ExclusiveAustralia invites China’s new foreign minister to Canberra, sees ‘no downside’ in Wang Yi’s return
Australia’s embassy in Beijing has issued an invitation from Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong for her newly reappointed Chinese counterpart to visit CanberraIt replaces an invitation sent to Qin Gang, who was replaced by Wang Yi as China’s foreign minister last week having not been seen in public since JuneChina-Australia relationsKandy WongPublished: 4:00pm, 2 Aug, 2023Why you can trust SCMP
Australia’s embassy in Beijing has issued an invitation from Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong to her newly reappointed Chinese counterpart to visit Canberra, according to sources close to the Australian government, although a date has not been confirmed.
Wang Yi, director of the Communist Party’s Central Foreign Affairs Commission, replaced Qin Gang, who has not been seen in public since June, as foreign minister last week.
Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs told the Post that “future meetings between the foreign minister and her counterpart will be announced at an appropriate time”. It also described a meeting between Wong and Wang in Jakarta in July as “constructive”, adding that the pair had met several times over the past year.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to request for comment.