Australia’s parliament passed a bill Tuesday (Dec. 8) that gives the federal government the power to regulate agreements between lower levels of government and foreign governments. The federal government has the power to annul them if they are found to be contrary to the country’s foreign policy objectives.
Rarely in history has Australia experienced a full-scale, high-intensity retaliation from China, a country with a huge market. This is a major decision by Canberra in response to China’s crackdown.
Under the Foreign Relations Act, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison will have the power to review and rescind agreements between state, territory and local councils and public universities and foreign governments.
Analysts say the new law will expand the powers of the federal government, which may affect foreign involvement, particularly that of China, in areas such as Australia’s infrastructure, trade cooperation, tourism, cultural cooperation, science, health and education. The sword is Xi Jinping’s direct deployment of the Belt and Road Initiative project.
Australia’s second largest state, Victoria, has signed a Belt and Road agreement with China that will be reviewed by the government. A total of 135 agreements, involving 30 countries, are under review.
Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said: “We have not agreed to this agreement from the outset, nor do we agree to it now. There is no doubt that a decision will be made in due course on this issue.”
Under the new law, Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Marise Payne, will have direct responsibility for the review and handling of agreements relating to foreign policy. Payne has the power to request that agreements be amended or outright rescinded if there are issues that are contrary to Australia’s foreign policy objectives.
Payne said the Department of Foreign Affairs will establish a special agency to review international agreements under the new law. In a statement, Payne said, “This legislation is necessary to properly manage and protect Australia’s foreign relations and to ensure continuity in the country’s foreign policy.”
When the enabling bill was introduced in Australia’s parliament in August, China’s foreign ministry warned that it would affect “successful and pragmatic cooperation” between China and Victoria.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said: “The Australian side should look at the China-Australia cooperation and the ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative objectively and rationally, and should not place artificial barriers to normal exchanges and cooperation between China and Australia.”
Immediately after Australia’s parliament passed the bill, China returned the favor. China’s General Administration of Customs announced on Monday that it was suspending the acceptance of meat exports to China from Meramist, an Australian slaughterhouse in Queensland. According to Australian reports, China banned Australian meat processor John Dee from exporting to China after the Australian Parliament passed the Foreign Relations Act in late August.
In May of this year, four other Australian beef exporters were punished with export bans.
Australia’s relationship with China has deteriorated since May, when Australia called for an independent international investigation into the source of the neo-crowning virus. To date, China’s retaliation against Australia has been widespread, with banned commodities including coal, barley, wine, seafood, sugar, timber, and meat.
On November 27, China’s Ministry of Commerce decided to impose tariffs of up to 212% on Australian wine, causing severe damage to the country’s wine industry.
On November 30, Zhao Lijian retweeted a false picture on his personal Twitter account, ridiculing the scandal of Australian soldiers killing civilians in Afghanistan. Zhao Lijian’s actions provoked strong public outcry in Australia, and Prime Minister Morrison directly condemned the Chinese actions and demanded an apology from the Chinese government.
The Chinese official media made no secret of the fact that China was using its economic power to pursue Australia in order to make this and other countries understand that they cannot fight China if they want to make money from the Chinese market. However, observers have pointed out that China’s fierce attacks have not brought the Australian government to its knees, but rather have fueled the anger of the Australian public and the international community against the CCP. This may have been unexpected by Beijing policymakers.
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