China-Australia ties back on track

CANBERRA, Australia (AFP) — China hailed mended ties with Australia on Monday, saying relations were “on the right track” as the trading partners moved on from a bitter economic dispute despite a duel for influence in the Pacific.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang arrived to a grand ceremonial welcome at Parliament House in Canberra, before talks with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

The highest-ranking Chinese official to visit since 2017, Li said his trip to Australia demonstrated “that this relationship is on the right track of steady improvement and development.”

Li offered an olive branch, granting Australian citizens limited visa-free access to China, a gesture limited to a relatively small number of nations in Beijing’s good books.

Australia, meanwhile, said the two countries had agreed to improve “military-to-military” communication, lowering the temperature after recent brushes in international waters.

Despite the goodwill on show, both sides acknowledged lingering “differences” — a nod to diplomatic jostling in the Pacific and China’s ongoing detention of a dissident writer.

“We won’t always agree, and the points in which we disagree won’t simply disappear if we leave them in silence,” Albanese said.

Police beefed up security in a bid to head off trouble as Li arrived, standing in the middle of chanting human rights protesters and banner-waving pro-China groups.