China and Australia Agree Their Relationship Needs Some Work

(AFR) — Premier Li Keqiang and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison tacitly acknowledged that relations between their two nations needed some work as they sat down for a face-to-face meeting on Sunday night.

Meeting Li was Morrison’s first engagement upon landing in Bangkok to attend the East Asia Summit and to hold talks to try and conclude negotiations on the 16-nation trade pact, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

In his opening remarks to Morrison, Li, said the two countries had “extensive common interests” and “on the economic and trade front, there was a solid foundation for economic cooperation and strong potential.”

“In the face of downward economic pressure and a complex international situation, we are ready to work with the Australian side to keep our relationship on the right track, deepen our mutual trust and jointly maintain regional and global peace,’’ he said through a translator.

“We are ready to work with Australia to fully unlock the potential of our relations and expand our business ties and people-to-people exchange.

“This is to the benefit of both sides. We hope our relations will move in a direction of steady and sound growth.’’

Morrison assured Li that Australia regarded the relationship as a ‘‘comprehensive strategic partnership,’’ which was an important form of words after the Prime Minister offended Beijing during the election campaign by describing China as a “customer.”

“Like you, I feel very strongly committed to improving that relationship and ensuring we realize its full potential.”

He assured Li that Australia did not feel it had to choose between China and the U.S.

Earlier in the day at the ASEAN summit, Li paid lip service to concerns over Beijing’s incursions into the South China Sea by claiming China was committed to a code of conduct for the area over that it has been stalling for years.

Li said China has agreed to commence negotiations and that the first of three expected rounds would be concluded in July.

Li called that progress “a very important landmark” for regional stability.

He said China is committed to making headway in the negotiations with ASEAN members, four of whom — Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam — are locked in the territorial disputes.

Morison was expected to raise the issues in his talks with Li, along with North Korea, the trade war with the U.S., and the situation in Hong Kong.

Morrison had been hoping to meet President Xi Jinping at the APEC summit in Chile in a fortnight, but the summit was canceled due to civil unrest.

This added extra importance to the meeting with Li, as it comes on the back of another statement from China critical of Australia following a speech last week by Foreign Minister Marise Payne in which she raised human rights abuses.

In the U.S. over the weekend, Defense Minister Linda Reynolds called on America to lift its presence in the Indo-Pacific region.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese said Sunday that Morrison had strayed too far when he sided with Donald Trump against China on trade during his recent visit to the U.S. “It’s about time that the Prime Minister planned a visit to China as well. It would be a reasonable thing for him to do,’’ Albanese said.

This story was first published in The Australian Financial Review

Contact editor Yang Ge (geyang@caixin.com)