Key Points
- China’s Premier Li Qiang says Australia will get to choose two new Chinese pandas to replace two at Adelaide Zoo.
- Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she would advocate for the imprisoned writer Yang Hengjun.
- Qiang said Australia’s relationship with China was ‘back on track’.
China’s Premier Li Qiang has announced giant pandas Wang Wang and Fu Ni will return to China in November after 15 years at Adelaide Zoo.
The pandas failed to produce an offspring in their time in Australia, amid hopes they could boost the endangered animals’ population.
Qiang said the zoo will get to select two new pandas as part of China’s breeding program and .
Meanwhile Foreign Minister Penny Wong has promised during Qiang’s visit to advocate for Australian writer .
Giant panda Wang Wang tries to open its gift box during its birthday party in Adelaide Zoo. Credit: Sipa USA
Senator Wong’s comments on ABC Insiders on Sunday came after China’s second-most powerful leader declared on arrival in Adelaide on Saturday that the relationship was “back on track after a period of twists and turns”.
The imprisonment of Yang, who received a and remains in jail, and the targeting of Australian residents by Hong Kong authorities are viewed as throny points on the first visit by a Chinese premier in seven years.
“We will continue to advocate where ever we are able and we will continue to advocate for appropriate medical treatment” for Yang, Wong said when asked whether she would raise his ill health with Li.
She reiterated Australia’s , describing it as “one of the riskier flashpoints” in the world.
China’s military has stepped up training exercises around Taiwan, as it reinforces the that the island is part of the mainland and may be taken by force.
Away from the Taiwan flashpoint, the growing number of incidents between Australian and Chinese militaries has strained the relationship in recent times.
Reaffirming the status quo on Taiwan, Senator Wong said Australia would continue to push for calm in the region and press its claims with Beijing.
“We will co-operate where we can, we will disagree where we must and we will engage in our national interest,” Wong said.
In advance of Li’s visit, the opposition warned the prime minister not to go easy on Li.
But the commodities Australia exports to China to produce the steel, copper and aluminium that form the backbone of its economy add an important dimension to relations.
Li is set to meet with winemakers, who have been celebrating a return to the market that has driven global wine sales for decades, following the lifting of a ban on Australian wine.
Beijing has gradually , with less than $1 billion worth of trade restrictions remaining on rock lobsters and two meatworks.
Around 350 winemakers, mostly South Australian, are now selling their products back into the Chinese market.
Trade Minister Don Farrell, who is a South Australian winemaker himself, said business was booming again for the nation’s wine producers.
“In the last month, since the ban on wine was lifted, we’ve sold $86 million of wine into China,” Farrell said on Sunday Agenda.
