Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Tuesday called for the release of her nationals detained in China and said their fate will be on the agenda of her historic visit to Beijing.
Australian journalist Cheng Lei was arrested by Chinese authorities in August 2020 and then accused of “disclosing state secrets abroad”. Australian of Chinese descent, Yang Jun was arrested in January 2019 and has since been charged behind closed doors with espionage.
The head of Australia’s diplomacy said their release would help improve relations between the two countries.
“I think it would be beneficial if these consular matters were settled not only for the (involved) people, which I think is important in itself, but also for (our) relationships,” she said.
Penny Wong, who leaves for Beijing on Tuesday, is the first senior Australian diplomat to visit China in four years to unfreeze China-Australia ties. She will meet with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
The once excellent relations have deteriorated over the past four years. The two countries have clashed over political and moral issues, including Chinese interference abroad.
Beijing has been angered by Australia’s decision to ban Chinese giant Huawei from operating the country’s 5G network and calls by Canberra to investigate the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In retaliation, China quietly imposed sanctions on a range of Australian products and implemented a freeze on high-level diplomatic contacts. Their thaw began in November at the G20 summit in Bali, where Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Beijing hoped Monday that Wong’s visit will “strengthen dialogue, expand cooperation and bridge differences, while restarting bilateral ties.”
China is Australia’s largest trading partner and provides much of the ores, metals and minerals that fuel China’s spectacular economic growth.