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Australia, China: Why Beijing and Canberra Are Working Together Again

Nov 7, 2018 | 23:20 GMT

(Stratfor)

After a year of souring ties, Australia's new administration appears to be trying to improve its frosty relations with China. On. Nov. 7, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne is traveling to China for the Australia-China Foreign and Strategic Dialogue. In attending the summit, Payne is following in the footsteps of Trade Minister Simon Birmingham, who recently attended the first China International Import Expo in Shanghai, where $11 billion worth of deals were signed between Chinese and Australian companies. Such high-level visits were largely halted late last year, when China imposed a freeze on Australian ministerial visits after Canberra accused Beijing of political meddling and heightened scrutiny on Chinese investments in technology, agriculture and energy. But after Canberra's latest change in government -- its seventh in the past decade -- the new administration led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison appears to have moderated its criticisms of Beijing and signaled a desire to...

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