By: Max Xu

After 4 years of negative relations, Australia has begun trying to improve their ties with China after the election of Australia’s new leader.

Last month, when Australia’s new government was elected, both China and Australia have wanted to patch up the negative relations between the two countries that have existed since 2018.

Australia and China weren’t always on bad terms. Back in 2014, the two countries had a trade pact due to China wanting Australia’s resources, but Australia slowly started getting more wary of China’s growing power and influence.

The countries’ relationships with each other started going downhill starting in 2018, when Australia started imposing laws specifically aimed at China, banning covert political activities on behalf of a foreign government. They also started blocking Chinese companies such as Huawei from building their 5G network. China fired back in 2020 by imposing tariffs on Australian goods worth about $16 billion, which only made Australia more wary of them.

“There is every reason for China and Australia to be friends and partners, rather than adversaries,” the Chinese ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, said in a speech at University of Technology at Sydney, “The atmosphere in both countries needs to be improved, that’s a fact.” In his speech, Xiao Qian was interrupted multiple times by protesters who wanted China to free Tibet, Xinjiang, and Hong Kong, which has been a political topic for a while. Many people believe that China shouldn’t control those places and should let them be their own countries.

Australia’s new prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has also wanted to improve ties with China, as they are his country’s largest trading partner. “Already there have been some improvements,”

he said, referring to relations with China. “But there’s a long way to go.”

However, both countries have been proceeding with caution, as there are still many things that the countries don’t agree on. The Australian government has been trying to secure the release of Australians detained in China. A writer and businessman, Yang Hengjun, was put on trial for espionage, and a journalist, Cheng Lei, was put on trial for allegedly passing state secrets. Many Australians believe that the trials are unfair and biased against the two, but Xiao, the ambassador, said that they had been given the same rights as everyone else.

After meeting with Wei Fenghe, the Chinese defense minister, Australian defense minister Richard Marles said, “this is only a first step.”

There are many obstacles in the way of a positive relationship between Australia and China, but if they can overcome them, a new relationship can be formed.

Article: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/24/world/asia/china-australia-ties.html