Beijing’s chief diplomat to Australia says he is seeking a organise a top-level dialogue between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Chinese Ambassador Xiao Qian, in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s 7:30 Report, said it was time the Australian government put more effort into meeting Beijing “halfway” and re-engage.
“Where exactly halfway between us, we can talk about those, but we need efforts from both sides,” Xiao said.
Sidestepping the question of whether Beijing would have any preconditions for the meeting, the ambassador said he had been working with Australian officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs to come to an arrangement. But he warned it would need to be when a “favourable atmosphere” was created….