National security experts and federal Labor have welcomed the Morrison government’s decision to tear up Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews’s Belt and Road agreement with the Chinese government, but warned there could be economic retaliation from Beijing.
‘It Was a Really Tough Time’: Pandemic Takes a Toll on International Students’ Mental Health
It has been more than one year since the last time Hailey Do, a third-year student from the University of Technology Sydney, left her hometown. Feeling trapped in her 80-square meter flat in the bustling suburb of Strathfield, Sydney, she longs for her peaceful homeland, Da Lat, a small city nestling among the wooded hills and weaving roads of Vietnam’s Central Highlands.
Vietnam shut its border on March 22, 2020, the same day the country surpassed over 100 cases of coronavirus infections for the first time. Just one day before, Australia reported 1081 confirmed cases and started to impose the social distancing rules.
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China has threatened retaliation over the federal governmentâs decision to cancel Victoriaâs Belt and Road agreement as the move secured support across the political and security spectrums in Australia.
But senior Australian officials who were not authorised to speak on the record said Australia was prepared to wear Chinaâs response given how the nation had survived the past year of economic coercion.
In the first official comments from the Chinese government since Wednesday nightâs decision, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the move would deepen tensions between Canberra and Beijing. Australia is the first country to have scrapped a signed BRI agreement.
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