The Foreign Minister Marise Payne will not accept Beijing preconditions for high-level dialogue with China, refusing to meet “certain conditions” including softening the ban on Huawei’s involvement in Australia’s 5G network.
“We have been advised by China that they will only engage in high-level dialogue if we meet certain conditions. Australia places no conditions on dialogue,” Payne told the Australia China Business Council’s annual Canberra gathering.
“We can’t meet the conditions, such as the now well-known list of 14 grievances raised in the media last year.”
The Huawei ban is among the aforementioned “14 grievances”, as is our “incessant, wanton interference in China’s Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan affairs”.
