Penny Wong says she is open to meeting with Chinese counterpart at G20

Penny Wong has told reporters in Singapore that both Australia and China have an interest in ‘stabilising the relationship’ and she is ‘open to engagement’. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Australia’s foreign minister, Penny Wong, has signalled she is open to meeting her Chinese counterpart at a looming meeting of G20 foreign ministers, but she has warned any diplomatic thaw will require the removal of Beijing’s “coercive” trade sanctions against a variety of exports.

Wong was asked during a visit to Singapore on Wednesday to disclose whether or not arrangements were now in place for a conversation at the G20 meeting in Indonesia later this week – and if so, what her message would be to China’s Wang Yi.