Reuters-China Australia agree to turn the page as tensions ease
November 6, 2023 4 min 794 words
这篇报道描绘了中国和澳大利亚之间的紧张关系逐渐缓和，双方表示愿意共同前进。澳大利亚总理安东尼·阿尔班尼兹是自2016年以来首位访问中国的澳大利亚领导人，他在与中国国家主席习近平的会面中强调了中澳强劲的关系对未来的利益。这次访问旨在解决近年来因各种问题（包括安全担忧和COVID-19起源等）而引发的争端，导致中国对澳大利亚产品（包括葡萄酒、大麦和牛肉）实施封锁。 报告中提到，安东尼·阿尔班尼兹采取了措施稳定两国关系，中国也逐渐降低了贸易壁垒，允许了煤炭的进口，并于8月取消了对大麦的关税。最近，中国同意重新审查对澳大利亚葡萄酒的高达218%的倾销关税。这些积极信号表明，双方有望改善贸易和外交关系。 然而，尽管有这些积极迹象，中国和澳大利亚之间的关系仍然面临挑战，特别是中国在太平洋岛国中扩大影响力引起了澳大利亚的警惕，而中国在印太地区与美国和英国的安全联盟引发了中国对被遏制的担忧。澳大利亚支持联合国驳回中国在南海的领土主张，这也激怒了中国。 这一发展是积极的，因为它有望缓解中澳之间的紧张关系，促进双方的合作，但仍需要继续观察和努力以解决尚未解决的问题。中澳之间的关系对于整个亚太地区的稳定和繁荣都具有重要意义。
Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Monday that a "healthy and stable" relationship with Australia served each country's interests, and that it was important to move forward with strategic ties.
Mutual benefit is what China wants, Xi told Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the first Australian leader to visit Beijing since 2016, as both men met at the Great Hall of the People in the heart of the Chinese capital.
A strong relationship between China and Australia "will be beneficial into the future," Albanese told Xi in their second face-to-face talks in a year.
On his visit, Albanese is seeking to mend relations between the trading partners after disputes in recent years - over issues ranging from security concerns to the origin of COVID-19 - triggered Chinese blocks on Australian products including wine, barley and beef.
Earlier on Monday, Albanese stopped by Beijing's Temple of Heaven, following in the footsteps of the first Australian leader to visit China five decades ago as diplomatic relations were being established.
At the historic landmark, Albanese posed for a photograph at the circular Echo Wall, the spot where Australia's then prime minister, Gough Whitlam, stood in 1973, a year after the two countries established ties.
"In China we often say that when drinking water, we should not forget those who dug the well," Xi said. "The Chinese people will not forget Prime Minister Whitlam for digging the well for us."
For decades, China and Australia built a relationship on trade, with Beijing becoming Canberra's biggest commercial partner with purchases of Australian food and natural resources.
But ties soured after Australia in 2017 accused China of meddling in its politics. The following year, Australia banned equipment from Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies Co (HWT.UL) for its 5G network out of national security fears.
An Australian call in 2020 for an international inquiry into the origin of the COVID pandemic, which emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019, infuriated Beijing, which responded with blocks on various Australian imports.
As relations deteriorated, China warned its students against studying in Australia, citing racist incidents, threatening a multi-billion-dollar education market.
But Albanese took steps to stabilise relations after he became prime minister in May last year and met Xi on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Indonesia in November.
China soon began lowering trade barriers, allowing imports of coal in January and ending tariffs on barley in August. Last month, Beijing agreed to review dumping tariffs of 218% on Australian wine.
"I think there are promising signs," Albanese told reporters earlier on Monday.
"We've already seen a number of the impediments to trade between our two nations removed and an uplift already, substantial uplift, in the trade between our two nations in issues like barley already restarting."
China's January-September imports from Australia increased 8.1% from a year earlier to $116.9 billion, Chinese customs data show. In 2022, imports plunged 12.7% to $142.1 billion.
But obstacles remain with Beijing's projection of power among Pacific island nations alarming Australia, while its security alliance with the United States and Britain in the Indo-Pacific has stoked China's worries about containment.
Australian backing of a U.N. ruling rejecting China's territorial claims in the South China Sea has also angered Beijing, which has told Canberra the issue is not its concern.
Australia says the South China Sea is an important passageway for its trade with Japan and South Korea.
"What I've said is that we need to cooperate with China where we can, disagree where we must and engage in our national interest," Albanese said.