The Prime Minister lands in Beijing this weekend with all the history of Australia’s volatile relationship with China in recent years, all its bumps and bruises. The visit is a capstone to his and Penny Wong’s policy of “stabilising” Australia-China ties.
Australian and Chinese officials have used the period since last year’s federal election to rid relations of many, though by no means all, of the irritants which have traumatised their relations since 2017. But an Australian citizen, Yang Hengjun, remains incarcerated in China on murky charges. And some trade restrictions, particularly on Australian meat and wine, remain.
