'Crucial step' taken to restore Sino-Aussie ties

Experts say much will depend on what happens next as diplomatic freeze ends

The recent meeting between China's State Councilor and Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe and Australia's Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles has been warmly received by analysts, who see it as the first step in restoring relations between the two countries.

The two ministers met for more than an hour on Sunday in Singapore, ending a bilateral diplomatic freeze that has lasted more than two years. They met on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue, the regional security conference that brings together defense ministers and world leaders.

While analysts were quick to welcome the meeting, they said much will depend on what happens next.

"Australia's relationship with China is complex," said Marles, after meeting with General Wei. "And it's precisely because of this complexity that it really is important that we are engaging right now."

He described the meeting, details of which have not been released, as a "crucial step" in restoring relations with Australia's biggest trading partner.

"From an Australian perspective, the meeting matters because it moves Canberra closer to the state of relations with China that a host of other US allies and partners in the region have been able to maintain," said James Laurenceson, director of the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney.

"For two and a half years, Australia has been an outlier in the region in being unable to advocate its interests directly with senior Chinese officials."

He said while the meeting was only "a tentative first step", it did not "take the form of an official bilateral visit or leaders' meeting".

"Nonetheless, an improved relationship trajectory was always going to begin with modest initial moves. Both sides deserve credit for bringing the ice-breaking meeting to fruition," he said.

Likewise, Zhu Ying, director of the Australia Centre for Asian Business at the University of South Australia, welcomed the meeting as a "good first step" in restoring relations.

David Goodman, director of the China Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, said it was good to see that there has been contact between officials from the two governments.

He added that it "would be even better if it could lead to improved relations between the two governments that had some tangible results in both trade and sovereignty based on mutual respect".

Dennis Richardson, former head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, told the ABC on Monday that the meeting was an "opportunity that came from the change in government, but significant differences remained".

"The fact that they agreed to talk at the very first opportunity is noteworthy," he said.

Marles became the Australian defense minister following the May 21 elections, which ousted the conservative government of former prime minister Scott Morrison.

Under Morrison's leadership, relations between China and Australia were particularly difficult and saw a freeze on ministerial contacts between the two countries.

Baggage of last decade

Richardson, who noted that China and Australia remain at odds on several issues, said the new government did not carry the baggage of the previous decade, including Australia's decision to ban Chinese carrier Huawei from the 5G network.

Colin Mackerras, professor emeritus at Griffith University, said it is good to "break the ice and at least have some dialogue".

"I'm struck by the fact that the Chinese Ambassador (to Australia) Xiao Qian and other Chinese spokespeople are talking about meeting halfway, whereas Australians are just focusing on their own demands," he said.

"It doesn't seem to me to be sensible for Marles to rule out any role for the Chinese in the Pacific and to demand that Australia should be the partner of choice, excluding China."