China’s Foreign Minister’s Play to Counter US Influence in Australia, New Zealand

This is a photo of Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of China, and Anthony Albanese, the Prime Minister of Australia, when they met at the Beijing People’s Congress on November 6th last year./Renmin Ribao.

On the 17th, Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister (also the head of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs), embarked on a visit to Australia and New Zealand. This visit, spanning five days, is undoubtedly important in countering the influence of their potential enemy, the United States. He will first visit New Zealand and move to Australia on the 20th, marking his first visit as Foreign Minister in seven years.

According to diplomatic sources in Beijing on the 17th, the highlight of this visit is undoubtedly Wang Yi’s visit to Australia because the relationship between China and Australia is not good. This is hardly surprising given that Australia is a member of the AUKUS security alliance alongside the United States and the United Kingdom.

Moreover, the two countries have had numerous extreme conflicts. For instance 2018, Australia followed the United States in excluding Huawei, a Chinese telecommunications giant, from its 5G network infrastructure. China was understandably outraged. This led to retaliatory measures from China, including restrictions on Australian imports such as wine, coal, barley, beef, and lobsters. High tariffs were also imposed on some items. It was no surprise when diplomatic channels were cut off in May 2021.

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The silver lining is that relations entered a slight reconciliation phase with the inauguration of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in May 2022. However, China’s import restrictions on Australian wine, lobsters, and meat remain in place. The recent sentencing of Australian writer Yang Hengjun to a suspended death sentence for espionage further strains bilateral ties.

Nonetheless, China recognizes the necessity of improving its relations with Australia, even to counter the United States. It’s only natural to have the 7th China-Australia Strategic Dialogue between Wang Yi and his counterpart, Penny Wong, during this visit.

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin expressed optimism about bilateral relations at a recent regular briefing on the 14th, stating, “Minister Wang will exchange in-depth views on matters of common interest with Minister Wong during this visit. We expect high-level exchanges between the two countries to begin this year.” This statement alone suggests that this is indeed the case.

If successful, this visit could pave the way for a significant improvement in bilateral relations, which marks the 10th anniversary of their comprehensive strategic partnership, potentially shaking off past tensions. Of course, the two countries may still have differences in sensitive areas such as security, military, and human rights.

However, considering China’s proactive efforts to improve relations, it’s safe to say that some degree of success will likely be made. Positive coverage of Wang Yi’s visit in state-run media outlets, including the People’s Daily, seems to confirm this.

China’s global diplomatic efforts to counter the United States include pursuing shuttle diplomacy to end the war in Ukraine and strengthening military cooperation with Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and Nepal. If China can also improve its relations with Australia in this context, it may alleviate some of the pressure it faces from the United States, which has been ongoing for seven years.