China-Australia All Set For A Real Diplomatic Reboot

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Wang's tone was not exuberant. But it was unmistakably positive and assiduously forward-looking. The assertive, “wolf warrior”-style diplomacy that characterized China's foreign policy in recent years was nowhere to be seen. And the“14 grievances” the Chinese embassy issued in 2020 to express the country's frustrations with Australia remained in the drawer.

And like his Australian counterpart, Wang hoped that Beijing and Canberra would maintain“mature, stable and productive” relations. His aim was for the“diverse engagement” between the two countries to continue and the“untapped potential” of the relationship to be realized.

After all, Wang said, Australia and China had“more common interests than differences.” On the latter, the task was not to pretend they didn't exist, but rather to“manage and rise above” them.

This sounded an awful lot like Wong's exhortation in a press conference following her meeting with Wang that Australia and China need to“manage their differences wisely”.

Wang even managed a note of humor, joking to business leaders in the room that despite Australia running a massive bilateral trade surplus with China (more than $A100 billion in 2023), Beijing did not consider this a problem.

He quipped he did not intend to launch any“301 investigations” against Australia, name-checking the tactics that Washington has deployed to reduce its trade deficit with China.

Avoiding diplomatic pitfalls

Given Beijing's previous behavior toward Canberra, such as using trade restrictions to disrupt A$20 billion (US$13 billion) worth of Australian exports in 2020, Wang's rhetoric this week could arouse some skepticism.

But recent events suggest more is at play – and the relationship is actually on firmer ground than might be expected.

Last November, a Chinese warship directed a powerful, hull-mounted sonar at an Australian naval vessel in the East China Sea, causing minor injuries to divers who had been removing fishing nets entangled in the ship's propellers.

Neither side shied away from making clear their positions on the incident – and these were at odds.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the Chinese actions as“dangerous, unsafe and unprofessional.” China's Ministry of National Defense, meanwhile, said Australia ought to“respect the facts” and“stop making reckless and irresponsible accusations.”

Despite this strong language, however, neither side prolonged or escalated the impact of the incident.

The same dynamic was apparent when Beijing announced last month that an Australian citizen, Yang Hengjun, had received a suspended death sentence in China for“espionage .”

Wong described the verdict as“appalling.” Albanese said his government had conveyed to Beijing“our dismay, our despair, our frustration, but to put it really simply, our outrage at this verdict.” She continued to advocate loudly on Yang's behalf to Wang this week, as well.

Beijing took a very different position , saying the Chinese court respected Yang's procedural rights.