Australia's prime minister on Tuesday rejected a former diplomat's opinion that the country needs a new foreign minister to thaw relations with China. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull backed Bishop, the deputy leader of his conservative Liberal Party, who has served as foreign minister since 2013. Raby wrote that Bishop had not visited China, Australia's most important trade partner, in more than two years. "My Chinese counterpart and I are planning a meeting very shortly," Bishop told Australian Broadcasting Corp., referring to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The Chinese foreign ministry said then that Turnbull's remarks were prejudiced against China and had poisoned the atmosphere of China-Australia relations.

Source: ABC News May 15, 2018 11:03 UTC