Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong is set to visit China from Tuesday to April 30. During her visit, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is scheduled to co-chair the Eighth China-Australia Foreign and Strategic Dialogue with her.
Before her China visit, Australian Foreign Minister held talks with a series of Japanese officials on Tuesday in Tokyo, according to the official releases. The visit, with the aim of shoring up Australia’s fuel security, has shed the light on the energy security.
Global Times reporter found that “energy security” and words and phrases related to it appeared on multiple occasions in Wong’s X posts issued following her meeting with Japanese officials.
Wong’s China visit is scheduled after her visit to Japan and ahead of her trip to South Korea.
Chen Hong, a professor and director of the Australian Studies Center at East China Normal University, told the Global Times on Tuesday that Australia is highly reliant on imports of refined fuels and has been plagued by fuel shortages since the outbreak of conflicts in Iran late February.
Wong’s visit to three East Asian countries marks Australia’s diplomatic efforts amid mounting pressures in energy, inflation and supply chains. China, Japan and South Korea are key players in the regional energy trade, refining capacity and supply chain systems.
China-Australia relations are particularly distinctive. The two nations are not only comprehensive strategic partners but also boast highly complementary economic and trade structures, said the expert.
