China’s top foreign affairs official Wang Yi has been accused of snubbing Australia again by refusing to front up to a press conference with his counterpart Penny Wong.
News.com.au has confirmed that the Chinese foreign minister was invited by the Foreign Minister’s office but has declined to attend the press conference.
That’s left the Foreign Minister Penny Wong to field questions from Chinese state media and Australian reporters on her own.
The fallout has now spread to the Australian media who have lodged complaints with the Prime Minister’s office over the “no show” that will allow Chinese state media to grill Senator Wong alone.
In a statement today Senator Wong pointedly said she looked forward to a “frank exchange of views.”
“The Australian Government continues to pursue a stable and constructive relationship with China, which is in the interests of both countries,‘’ she said.
“Australia’s approach is consistent; we seek to co-operate with China where we can, disagree where we must and engage in our national interest.
“I look forward to a frank exchange of views on our shared interests, points of difference, and our respective roles in upholding a region that is peaceful, stable and secure.”
The Director of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee Foreign Affairs Commission, Wang Yi has already raised eyebrows by meeting with former Prime Minister Paul Keating in Australia, a move branded an ‘insult’ to Senator Wong.
The meeting is being interpreted as a pointed rebuke for the Labor Party because Mr Keating – who has labelled Australian security chiefs as “nutters” running a “goon show” – has also recently attacked Senator Wong over China.
“It doesn’t take much to encourage Penny Wong, sporting her ‘deeply concerned’ frown, to rattle the China can – a can she gave a good shake to,” Mr Keating said.
“Anwar Ibrahim, the prime minister of Malaysia, dropped a huge rock into Wong’s pond by telling Australia not to piggyback Australia’s problems with China onto ASEAN.”
“Let me just make this point. Running around the Pacific Islands with a lei around your neck handing out money, which is what Penny does, is not foreign policy,” he added.
“It’s a consular task. Foreign policy is what you do with the great powers.”
But it has now emerged that Senator Wong’s office invited the Chinese Foreign Minister to a joint media conference and he declined.
His failure to appear has angered foreign affairs correspondents in Australia who have raised concerns with the Foreign Minister’s office and the Prime Minister’s office.
Speaking to Sky News, Opposition foreign affairs spokesperson Simon Birmingham previously raised questions about the optics of the Chinese Foreign Minister’s meeting with Mr Keating.
“Have a look at what Paul Keating’s had to say about Penny Wong and the Albanese government. And he’s been highly, highly critical of them,‘ Mr Birmingham said.
“It is quite pointed and somewhat insulting towards Penny Wong for the Chinese Embassy to have sought this meeting with such a vocal critic of Penny Wong.”
The Chinese Foreign Minister is due to meet with Senator Wong in Canberra on Wednesday, where they will jointly hold the China-Australia Foreign and Strategic Dialogue.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will also hold a sit down meeting with the Chinese Foreign Minister.
However, Mr Keating will then hold an ‘unofficial’ meeting with Mr Wang, likely in Sydney on Thursday.
Mr Albanese has strongly backed Senator Wong in relation to Paul Keating’s public attacks.
“Penny Wong is someone who brings Australia enormous respect. She is someone who is diligent, she is someone who is engaging, she is someone who is across all her briefs,” he said.
“Paul’s accountable for what he says, he knows that. But on Penny Wong, I think quite clearly he is wrong.”