Coalition says Anthony Albanese should not go to China until trade sanctions are lifted

The opposition supports the government’s dialogue with China, Simon Birmingham says, but ‘we should expect clear outcomes’ before a state visit by the prime minister Anthony Albanese, pictured arriving at the G7 meeting in Japan on Friday. Photograph: Philip Fong/AFP/Getty Images

The shadow minister for foreign affairs, Simon Birmingham, says Anthony Albanese should not visit Beijing until all trade sanctions have been lifted.

Birmingham, a former trade minister in the Coalition government, said Australia “deserves to have absolute clarity that these sanctions are going to be lifted and that clarity should be there before the prime minister entertains a formal state visit to Beijing”.