The Five Eyes Alliance is discussing a plan to join forces to impose retaliatory sanctions on Chinese products in response to the Chinese government’s recent ban on imports of Australian coal, Australian media reported.
According to News Crop, the Five-Eyes alliance is talking about countering the Chinese Communist Party’s trade crackdown on Australia, with its security agencies conducting a joint assessment and retaliatory sanctions if the measures are deemed to be ‘politically motivated’ to pressure Australia.
The report said one way of imposing sanctions would be for each of the five countries to announce measures against Chinese goods. Another option would be for Australia to impose retaliatory tariffs on Chinese products. If China considers making up for the losses elsewhere, the four Allies — The United States, Britain, Canada and New York — would refuse to buy China-related products in support of Australia. It is still at the negotiating stage, but the plan is gaining traction in Australia and is being “seriously considered” in the US.
A recent report by the Australian Institute for Strategic And Policy Studies (ASPI) noted that the Five Eyes alliance could take into account NATO’s commitment to “collective defence”, and that an attack on one ally could be seen as an attack on all. The deteriorating relations this year were triggered by Beijing’s April call for an investigation into the source of a pneumonia outbreak in Wuhan, China’s communist party, which imposed unilateral trade sanctions on Australia from May.
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