The 21st century will belong to the Pacific, and the economic and political rise of China as a Pacific power means that Beijing and Australia will need to seek out better means of cooperation.

Bilateral relations between China and Australia have been frosty in recent years, but thawed after Anthony Albanese became Australian prime minister in 2022.

After coronavirus travel restrictions were lifted, Albanese traveled to China with Foreign Minister Penny Wong in autumn 2023 to bring about a new start.

And Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's trip to Australia this week was the most senior-level visit of a Chinese official since Wang's last visit in 2017.

The reason for Wang's trip this time around was to prepare for a planned official visit by Chinese Premier Li Qiang later this year. However, there were plenty of other touchy topics up for discussion.

In late February, Yang Hengjun, an Australian pro-democracy blogger, received a suspended death sentence from a Beijing court for espionage.

Yang, who was born in China and received Australian citizenship in 2002, is accused of spying in mainland China on behalf of Taiwan's intelligence service and was arrested in 2019. The blogger had........

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