CCP Foreign Minister Locks in Visit to Australia

China's foreign minister Wang Yi attends a press conference at Media Center on March 8, 2019 in Beijing, China. Wang Yi answered questions from Chinese and foreign journalists on issues related to "China's foreign policy and foreign relations" Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

CCP Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit Australia next week on March 20.

Beijing’s representative is slated to visit Canberra and will meet Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong for a ministerial dialogue where the case of detained Australian Yang Hengjun will likely be front and centre.

“[Australian foreign minister] Penny Wong issued a formal invitation to Wang,” according to a source who spoke to the South China Morning Post, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject.

“The invitation was the formal conclusion of discussions between the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and [the Chinese] embassy over a couple of weeks.” Mr. Wang is expected to spend a day in Canberra and another in Sydney.

While the Australian government—which has been working on building a more positive relationship with Beijing, and tried to avoid any controversy at the recent ASEAN meeting—will be keeping the talks focused on issues such as bilateral trade it’s likely Mr. Wang will face questions on the CCP’s trial of Mr. Yang, who was given a suspended death sentence last month.

China’s ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, said on March 11 that if Mr. Yang complied with the terms of his imprisonment and committed no further crimes “theoretically there is a chance he will not be executed.”

Mr. Xiao also downplayed worries over the writer’s health and said that while it was “not perfect,” it was not as grave as described by his family. A suspended death sentence in China gives the accused a two-year reprieve from being executed, after which the sentence is automatically converted to life imprisonment.

The meeting comes amid a push to lift sanctions on Australian wine and lobster exports to China. Wine faces an “unofficial ban,” with some wines incurring a tariff rate of 218.4 percent, while live (but not frozen) lobsters are banned entirely.

The Post says Beijing may push Australia to sign a new Science and Technology Agreement, but Canberra has delayed this due to pressure from the United States.

The visit would be Mr. Wang’s first since 2017, and comes a few months after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited China in November.

Another of the Post’s sources said CCP Premier Li Qiang could visit Australia in June or July.