Australia has become China’s ‘whipping boy’ as trade bans bite
China is treating Australia like its “whipping boy” as are punishment for our close ties with the US and calls for an inquiry into the pandemic, academics say.
Chinese officials are reported to have informally told importers of goods, including timber, sugar and barley, that products arriving after Friday will not be cleared by customs.
Academics say China has been put off-side by a number of key Australian government decisions, including Prime Minister Scott Morrison calling in May for an inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic.
Chinese-owned telecommunications giant Huawei being blocked from rolling out Australia’s 5G network due to security concerns and foreign interference legislation is also a factor.
CHINA’S ‘WHIPPING BOY’
Professor James Curran said the relationship between the two countries had been stripped down to “purely commercial transactions” and would take a long time for the wounds to heal.
The University of Sydney’s Department of History academic said China wanted to treat Australia like a “whipping boy” for getting too close to the US.
“I don’t think there is much we can do about that. I think they are trying to make an example of us,” Professor Curran told NCA NewsWire.
“It’s hard to see where the circuit-breaker is coming from.”
He said the way Turnbull and Morrison governments communicated key decisions made against China, or Chinese businesses or interests, had caused the damage.
“Australia has taken legitimate and necessary steps to counter what it sees as Chinese interference in politics and it has also criticised China over the pandemic and blocked Huawei from access to the 5G network,” he said.
“All of those measures are defensible, but why we have got under China’s skin is because the diplomacy we have used has been clumsy. It lacked guile.”
He said the fractured political relationship between the countries was now on track to cause severe pain for those in export industries.
However, China is yet to strike at the resource sector because of its heavy reliance on one metal.
“I think it’s going to be worth keeping in mind they haven’t turned off the resource tap yet,” he said.
“They haven't tried to hit us on iron ore. They still need that to keep growing.”
https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/australia-has-become-chinas-whipping-boy-as-trade-bans-bite/news-story/4626c485de4431a692fd7cdc52cc6b25
Home 
