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The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has urged China not to supply weapons to Russia, after she met with her Chinese counterpart on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in India yesterday. She said she also raised trade issues, human rights and consular cases.
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Wong’s meeting was with Qin Gang, who has been serving as China’s foreign minister since late 2022. Wong previously held talks with then-minister Wang Yi in Beijing in December, following earlier meetings on the sidelines of last year’s G20 and UN general assembly events. Wong told reporters in New Delhi after the latest meeting:
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I will continue to assert that both parties [Australia and China] can grow our bilateral relationship while safeguarding our national interests if we both navigate our differences wisely. I was grateful for the opportunity to engage on important matters including trade, human rights and consular matters as well as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
\n
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Wong repeated the argument that “it would be in both countries’ interests for those trade impediments to be removed” – China’s tariffs and other restrictions on a range of Australian export sectors including barley and wine.
Asked about China’s proposed peace plan in relation to Ukraine, Wong began by saying the responsibility for the war in Ukraine and the flow-on impacts on global energy and food insecurity – as well as the suffering of the Ukrainian people – “lies at the feet of Russia and we must never forget that and never resile from that”.
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Wong said China was one of the five permanent members of the UN security council and added:
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I’ve previously said that the world does look to China for its responsible leadership when it comes to Ukraine, particularly given its closely relationship with Russia. I would note that President Zelenskiy himself has said he wants to believe that China will do the right thing and not supply weapons to Russia – and that is not only Australia’s call but the call of all countries.
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Morning and welcome to the Guardian Australia live blog. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ll be trying to bring you up to date with the overnight breaking news before Mostafa Rachwani comes along.
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Our top story this morning is about a legal challenge by an Afghan man who argues that Karen Andrews’s decision to cancel his visa in 2021 is void because Scott Morrison’s multiple ministerial appointments displaced her as home affairs minister and meant that she didn’t have the authority. It could lead to all decisions made between April 2021 and the 2022 election being challenged.
","elementId":"7ad71fa0-9f6f-4181-8c95-120cf41528cd"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
From home affairs minister to another and more backwash from the former Coalition government in the form of comments by Clare O’Neil in which she says her predecessors had a dangerous tendency to politicise national security issues. She tells a podcast that she felt “really troubled” that the previous government had a “reflex willingness to politicise national security issues, and particularly to talk about China in a way that I felt was highly politicised”. More coming on this interview very soon.
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The big foreign news overnight is that US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, had a stormy meeting on the sidelines of the G20 in India, after which the latter accused the west of blackmail. Australia meanwhile has joined other western nations to urge China not to supply arms to Russia to help its war against Ukraine. Penny Wong said the world looked to China “for its responsible leadership when it comes to Ukraine”. More coming on that too.
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Key events
Wong urges China not to supply weapons to Russia after talks in India
Daniel Hurst
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has urged China not to supply weapons to Russia, after she met with her Chinese counterpart on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in India yesterday. She said she also raised trade issues, human rights and consular cases.
Wong’s meeting was with Qin Gang, who has been serving as China’s foreign minister since late 2022. Wong previously held talks with then-minister Wang Yi in Beijing in December, following earlier meetings on the sidelines of last year’s G20 and UN general assembly events. Wong told reporters in New Delhi after the latest meeting:
I will continue to assert that both parties [Australia and China] can grow our bilateral relationship while safeguarding our national interests if we both navigate our differences wisely. I was grateful for the opportunity to engage on important matters including trade, human rights and consular matters as well as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Wong repeated the argument that “it would be in both countries’ interests for those trade impediments to be removed” – China’s tariffs and other restrictions on a range of Australian export sectors including barley and wine.
Asked about China’s proposed peace plan in relation to Ukraine, Wong began by saying the responsibility for the war in Ukraine and the flow-on impacts on global energy and food insecurity – as well as the suffering of the Ukrainian people – “lies at the feet of Russia and we must never forget that and never resile from that”.
Wong said China was one of the five permanent members of the UN security council and added:
I’ve previously said that the world does look to China for its responsible leadership when it comes to Ukraine, particularly given its closely relationship with Russia. I would note that President Zelenskiy himself has said he wants to believe that China will do the right thing and not supply weapons to Russia – and that is not only Australia’s call but the call of all countries.
Welcome
Martin Farrer
Morning and welcome to the Guardian Australia live blog. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ll be trying to bring you up to date with the overnight breaking news before Mostafa Rachwani comes along.
Our top story this morning is about a legal challenge by an Afghan man who argues that Karen Andrews’s decision to cancel his visa in 2021 is void because Scott Morrison’s multiple ministerial appointments displaced her as home affairs minister and meant that she didn’t have the authority. It could lead to all decisions made between April 2021 and the 2022 election being challenged.
From home affairs minister to another and more backwash from the former Coalition government in the form of comments by Clare O’Neil in which she says her predecessors had a dangerous tendency to politicise national security issues. She tells a podcast that she felt “really troubled” that the previous government had a “reflex willingness to politicise national security issues, and particularly to talk about China in a way that I felt was highly politicised”. More coming on this interview very soon.
The big foreign news overnight is that US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, had a stormy meeting on the sidelines of the G20 in India, after which the latter accused the west of blackmail. Australia meanwhile has joined other western nations to urge China not to supply arms to Russia to help its war against Ukraine. Penny Wong said the world looked to China “for its responsible leadership when it comes to Ukraine”. More coming on that too.
