Chinese decisions against Australia is part of revenge, accuses Australian Ambassador

Canberra/Beijing: – Australian Ambassador to China, Graham Fletcher, made a crushing allegation, ‘The sanctions imposed on Australian products and the campaign in this regard is only a part of Chinese act of vengeance.’ Ambassador Fletcher lashed out at China, saying that the Chinese decisions clearly reveal that Australia cannot trust China as a trading partner. Over the last year, China has imposed taxes on barley, coal, and timber imported from Australia. A few days ago, China announced that the economic agreement with Australia has been indefinitely postponed. Against this background, the allegations made by the Australian Ambassador seem to be indicators of the aggressive Australian stand.

Ambassador Fletcher presented his stand during the meeting of the Australia-China Business Council. The Australian Ambassador said, ‘China does not realise the losses incurred by China on the international level along with Australia. Following the successive sanctions imposed by China, like a punishment, Australia has received messages expressing sympathy and offering cooperation from several countries. At the same time, the outlook of the international community regarding China is becoming harsher.’

At this time, Fletcher also cautioned the Australian entrepreneurs. The Australian Ambassador warned, ‘Chinese government can initiate more steps in the coming times to deliver appropriate messages to Australia. The Australian entrepreneurs can lose this market due to this reason.’ Two weeks ago, China announced a reduction in the natural gas imports from Australia and said that it would be increasing imports from Turkmenistan, the Central Asian country. Following that, reports have been received that China has started looking for sources to replace raw steel, the highest imported product from Australia.

Nearly 80% of the steel required in China is imported. A whopping 60% of this is imported from Australia. The Australian steel is of excellent quality, and China has still not been able to find a replacement for it. But China has started efforts to import steel from Mongolia, Russia, Central Asian countries, Africa and Latin American countries in the coming times.

China is the biggest trading partner of Australia. China had a share of 29% in the total Australian trade in 2019. This is due to the agreement signed between the two countries and the efforts made by China. At the same time, China increased its influence in various Australian sectors and has started heavily interfering with the strength of this influence. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the Australian government started a spate of taking decisions against China. Many bills have been passed in the Australian Parliament mentioning the Chinese threat. China has become extremely upset with these decisions of the Australian government and is trying to pressurise Australia using its economic and trade might. Therefore, the China-Australia relations have been steadily festering over the last few years, and these new Chinese efforts seem to be a part of the same process.