China has announced that in the first high-level engagement between the two countries after months of cold relations, Prime Minister Li Keqiang sent a message of congratulations to his new counterpart in Australia, Anthony Albanese.
“The Chinese side is ready to work with the Australian side to look back and look to the future to advance the steady and stable growth of their comprehensive strategic partnership,” Li said on Monday night, quoted by Xinhua news agency on Monday. Monday night. said.
Relations between Beijing and Canberra are at their lowest since 2020 amid the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic and Australia’s request for an independent investigation into the source of the virus.
Tensions between the two countries escalated after that, with Australia’s decision to exclude Chinese giant “Huawei” from the competition to build a fifth -generation “5G” communications network.
China is Australia’s largest trading partner and responded to Australia’s move by imposing tariff sanctions on more than a dozen Australian products, including coal, alcohol and barley.
The Albanese, who took the seat on Monday, expressed his belief that relations with China would remain “difficult” hours before he traveled to Tokyo to attend the Quadruple alliance summit (US, India, Japan and Australia). Informal group aimed at countering China’s growing influence in the Asia-Pacific region.
Source: AFP
Source: Arabic RT
