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A year on from Canberra calling for an independent inquiry into the origins of COVID-19 and Beijing’s subsequent punishing of Australia via economic coercion, Australia has boldened its position by ripping up Australian state agreements with China and threatening to end Chinese ownership of critical infrastructure in Australia.
Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne announced last month that the Victorian state government’s deals with China, which included a 2018 memorandum of understanding on the Belt and Road Initiative were “inconsistent with Australia’s foreign policy or adverse to our foreign relations” and were therefore terminated.
Chinese officials said the decision was “provocative” and would have serious repercussions.
11 May 2021 7:24 GMT Updated 11 May 2021 7:24 GMT in Singapore
OPINION: An escalation in political tensions between China and Australia has put the liquefied natural gas sector firmly in the spotlight.
China s National Development & Reform Commission (NDRC) last week announced an “indefinite suspension” of all activities under the China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue, accusing some Australian Commonwealth Government officials of launching a series of measures to disrupt the normal exchanges and co-operation between the major trading partners.
The body went further by claiming this was done out of [a] Cold War mindset and ideological discrimination .
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