Canberra: Australia will not accept the demands of Mandarin to change the policy to restart bilateral talks, said Foreign Minister Marise Payne.
“We have been suggested by China that they will only be involved in high-level dialogue if we meet certain requirements.
Australia has no provisions in dialogue.
We cannot fulfill the conditions (they) now,” Payne said in a late speech on Thursday in Canberra.
Relations with China, it is rocky after Australia banned Huawei from the newly born 5G broadband network in 2018, it was further cooled after Canberra called last year for an independent investigation into the origin of Coronavirus Pandemi, first reported in Central China last year.
China responds by charge of rates on Australian commodities, including wine and wheat, and imported limited beef, coal and Australian wine.
The Chinese Embassy in Canberra did not immediately respond to a request to comment on Payne’s speech.
Although bilateral tension, China remains the largest trading partner in Australia.
In 12 months to March, Australia exported goods worth $ 149 billion ($ 110.1 billion) to China, down 0.6% from the previous year, but exports have been supported by strong prices for iron ore, the largest single item in trading with China.
‘Australia will not submit to Chinese demands to restart the conversation’
