The prime minister of Australia, a longtime US security partner in Asia, sought to focus his trip to China this week on business and trade opportunities, sidestepping thornier issues around US-China competition such as Taiwan or Beijing’s military expansion.

Australia and China are working to strengthen trade ties despite disagreements over security and human rights BEIJING — The leaders of Australia and China sought to deepen trade ties despite their differences over regional security and human rights at talks Tuesday in the Chinese capital.