Thread: China envoy threatens Australia boycott over virus inquest demand

Originally Posted by Cujo

Too funny, keep trying.

No thanks.

I seem to have misunderstood the plot

Ditto, had a nibble, not biting.

Tweedle dee and tweedle dum.

CPC == Cujo's a Pedantic Crunt

Easy!
Do I win a prize?

Coronavirus: China risks being left out of new global economic order, Beijing’s former trade chief warns | South China Morning Post

Coronavirus: China risks being left out of new global economic order, Beijing’s former trade chief warns
Long Yongtu, who led China’s negotiations to enter the World Trade Organisation, has warned Beijing to be alert to the risk of geopolitical isolation
His voice adds to a chorus of warnings from former officials and advisers about China’s position in the post-coronavirus world

Originally Posted by tomcat

Farmers’ Hopes Are Dashed in Australia on Souring of China Ties

Unlike Trump, China seems simply belligerent and overplaying its hand at this trade-war bullshit. But . . . they'll still push others around due to the mighty dollar.

Originally Posted by Cujo

Coronavirus: China risks being left out of new global economic order, Beijing’s former trade chief warns
Long Yongtu, who led China’s negotiations to enter the World Trade Organisation, has warned Beijing to be alert to the risk of geopolitical isolation
His voice adds to a chorus of warnings from former officials and advisers about China’s position in the post-coronavirus world

We'll see if Xi takes heed . . . but his arrogance is legend

Originally Posted by panama hat

We'll see if Xi takes heed . . . but his arrogance is legend

...arrogance is a defense against a thin skin...like dictators everywhere, he's unaccustomed to public disapproval of his policies...particularly if such negative notice comes from prominent white folks...

Interestingly, the largest abattoir (Australia's largest too) affected by the beef ban is Chinese owned!

Originally Posted by tomcat

Farmers’ Hopes Are Dashed in Australia on Souring of China Ties

Hope is up again - BoJo want's to open a direct trade pipe with Australia

A U.S.-Shaped Void Forces Australia to Stand Up Against China

By Jason Scott and Dandan Li
May 15, 2020, 2:00 AM GMT+7
https://www.bloomberg.com/asia

• Beijing warns of possible consumer boycott as tensions ramp up
• Germany, France, U.K following Morrison’s call for virus probe

Donald Trump hosts Scott Morrison in the Oval Office, 2019. Photographer: Alex Ellinghausen/The Sydney Morning Herald via Getty ImagesSHARE THIS ARTICLE

Australian governments have long sought to benefit from both a strong alliance with the U.S. and a deep trading relationship with China.

As Washington and Beijing edge from competition toward outright hostility, Australia looks to be setting out on a new path -- as a vocal member of middle-power nations willing to stand up to an increasingly assertive China.

While that change of tack may appear to be full-square behind President Donald Trump’s China bashing, it’s more likely to be a consequence of U.S. absence than proximity. Trump’s inward-focused “America First” agenda has left a void in the Indo-Pacific region that forces Australia to take a stand, even at the risk of retaliation.

“Australia’s interests will be best served by a multipolar region than one that’s dominated absolutely by China,” said Richard Maude, a former senior adviser on foreign policy and national security issues in the Office of the Prime Minister who is now an executive director of policy at the Asia Society. “China likes to condition countries to defer automatically to its interests for fear of retaliation, and that’s not a position that Australia can allow itself to be put into.”

While Australia’s tensions with China have been simmering for years, the potential for economic damage is now becoming more real. After Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government last month initiated calls for an independent probe into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, Beijing responded by claiming Australia was doing Trump’s bidding, and its embassy in Canberra warned that Chinese consumers could choose to boycott the nation’s exports.

Meat and Barley

In the past week, China indicated that an anti-dumping probe into barley exports could see it implement 80% tariffs on the grain, while meat imports from four Australian processing plants have been suspended for “technical” reasons. While China says the issues are unrelated, Australia’s government has called the boycott threats “economic coercion.”

Australian beef in a supermarket in Beijing on May 12.
Photographer: Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images

Despite concerns in Canberra that the U.S. has grown more unreliable under Trump, Morrison won’t be abandoning the nation’s alliance with its Five Eyes intelligence partner. Australia has stood with American forces in every major conflict in the past 100 years, and the U.S. presence Down Under is marked by a joint defense station used for global surveillance in central Australia and some 2,500 Marines in the northern port of Darwin on Asia’s doorstep.

The allies have been closely tracking each other on their China policies for years, with bans on Huawei Technologies Co. equipment in 5G networks on national security grounds and concerns Beijing operatives may be hacking their governments and stealing secrets. Australian leaders have often touted “shared values” with the U.S.
But with Trump showing tendencies to disregard traditional alliances, Australia is aware that it may be exposed -- especially as its status as one of the most China-dependent countries in the world means it has a lot to lose from damaged trade ties with Beijing.

Economic Dependency

Its exports to China were worth almost $120 billion last year, more than two-and-a-half times the volume of sales to its No. 2 trading partner, Japan, and almost 20 times those to the U.S. Australia is one of a few nations to run a substantial trade surplus with Beijing -- at some $61 billion, it’s almost double the value of its total trade with the U.S.

That level of economic dependency has spurred calls to diversify. Yet while Australia has been in talks with nations including the U.S., India and Japan on restructuring China-reliant supply chains in a post Covid-19 world, it’s the nation’s calls for an investigation into the virus that have particularly irked China, especially as Germany, France and U.K. have since joined that push after lobbying from Morrison.

Even after China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Tuesday that the trade issues involving beef and barley aren’t related to the proposed probe, his answer -- to an Australian reporter’s question -- segued into a criticism of the nation’s support for such action.

“Political maneuvers under the context of the pandemic will only disrupt international anti-virus cooperation and won’t gain any support,” Zhao said, adding that he hoped other nations would “join China in promoting international cooperation and mutual trust, rather than say something nice while doing the opposite.”
Collateral Damage

The chief executive of the Australian Meat Industry Council, Patrick Hutchinson, is urging caution from the government, even while stressing that he believes the halt to Chinese imports from the four meatworks isn’t due to political tensions.
“In whatever the geopolitical discussions that need to take place, we need to be making sure that trade is not collateral damage,” Hutchinson said in a Bloomberg Television interview.

Tensions between the nations increased on April 19 when Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne appeared to go out on a limb by calling for a global inquiry into the pandemic’s origins, which quickly raised the ire of China. On May 5, the European Union announced it was on board, saying it will put forward a proposal to the World Health Organization’s governing body on May 18 urging an independent probe.

Still, Australia has balked at supporting U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo’s claims there was “enormous evidence” that the coronavirus outbreak sprung from a high-security virology lab in Wuhan. Morrison has repeatedly said the scientific evidence points to the pandemic originating in a Chinese wildlife market, a practice his government wants banned.

Ram It Home

The Australian prime minister may feel he has a groundswell of domestic support to call for the probe. A poll by the Sydney-based Lowy Institute on Thursday found that just 31% believe China handled the outbreak well, with 68% less favorable toward Beijing’s system of government as it applied to the pandemic.
“This coronavirus crisis is a huge blow to China’s prestige, not necessarily among elites, but among the general public -- ordinary people feel very strongly about this,” Alexander Downer, a former Australian foreign minister who now chairs the U.K. think tank Policy Exchange, said in a video conference last month. He called for a “proper international investigation,” saying there’s a need to “ram that message home” to China.

Australia and China have clashed before. Allegations of Beijing’s meddling into Australia’s government, universities and media led to the passage of anti-foreign interference laws in 2018.

While warning against “unprecedented Sinophobia sentiment in Australia,” Zhu Feng, the dean of the Institute of International Relations at Nanjing University, said that mutual dependency is still a big part of bilateral relations. China is aware that its steel producers have few other options than buying from Australian-based iron ore producers -- a business worth around $40 billion a year.

Victim Mentality

“We shouldn’t exaggerate the conflicts with Australia or incite nationalism or reinforce victim mentality at home,” Zhu said. “China shouldn’t take the path of populism.”
While Australians are becoming more wary of China, they’re also concerned about the direction of the U.S. under Trump. Only one in 10 respondents to the Lowy Institute survey said they believe America has handled the pandemic crisis well, 53% said it will make its ally less powerful -- and 73% want Joe Biden as the next president.

Morrison pushed back on Thursday when asked by a journalist whether Australia was acting as a “deputy sheriff” to the U.S. in calling for the probe, saying the country has “always been independent.”

“We will always reach out to the rest of the world and seek to deal with them fairly and honestly and openly,” the prime minister said. “And that’s exactly what we’re doing right now.”

^I think that after that brotherly advice the China will be terribly taught by the Aussi - and never will do it again...

Originally Posted by tomcat

Morrison pushed back on Thursday when asked by a journalist whether Australia was acting as a “deputy sheriff” to the U.S. in calling for the probe, saying the country has “always been independent.”

I don't think Australia has ever been truly independent. Still, we have given generously in return. Australia has never fought in a war of it's own making. Neither have we been on the winning side for a long while.
Anyway, good call by the Chinese ambassador- 'merka's dep'ty sheriff, well put. Not a good idea, for all sorts of reasons- including showing up scomo as a liar when he says Australia is independent.

So, if Aus follows the US it is a lapdog of the red, white and blue . . . the countless times it hasn't . . . has it been called a non-lap dog by you?

the countless times it hasn't .

???? About the cheekiest thing I can think of is oz abstaining from a UN Israel vote, when 'merka wanted it to vote against.

Cast your net wider, independent decisions don't necessarily coincide with decisions from the US.


Sure, Aus has followed the UK and the US into fairly well every military conflict since time began . . .

Barley Blow to Australian Farmers After China Slap
By Rebecca Jones https://www.bloomberg.com/asia
May 19, 2020, 5:15 AM GMT+7 Corrected May 19, 2020, 7:18 AM GMT+7

China’s imposed anti-dumping duties on Australian barley could wipe more than half a billion dollars in value off the industry, according to a farmers group, as the levy is condemned by the government.

“Australia doesn’t believe that the decision China’s made is justified or defensible in accordance with anti-dumping practices,” Trade Minister Simon Birmingham told ABC Radio Tuesday.

Birmingham said he would consider the best pathway forward and whether this takes the shape of an appeal to the World Trade Organization -- an action urged by Tony Mahar, National Farmers’ Federation chief executive officer.

“It is a significant and devastating hit to the Australian agriculture industry,” Mahar told ABC News.

China, which is the biggest buyer of Australia’s barley, will slap an anti-dumping duty of 73.6% and an anti-subsidy duty of 6.9% on the commodity, according to a statement from the Ministry of Commerce. The announcement made late Monday comes as tensions between the two countries simmer, with Australia calling for a probe into the origins of the coronavirus in recent weeks.

“We will probably be losing well over half a billion dollars at least in value. The trade between the two countries at its peak has been around A$2 billion. It’s a major loss to the economy, it’s a major loss to rural communities, ” Andrew Weidemann, Grain Producers Australia chairman told Sky News.
“It is within their power to remove these duties at any time during the five-year timeframe and we would hope they do decide to do that,” Birmingham said.

All these threats seem pointless now, considering the great Xi has also called for a free and fair investigation once the virus has been dealt with.

The main difference I see between the two calls is that Aus was specific in investigating China's role, while Xi insists free and fair can only be done by the WHO, which to my cynical mind just further confirms its pwner.

Originally Posted by jabir

once the virus has been dealt with.

. . . yea . . . considering China just locked down another city . . .

China Considers More Economic Pain for Australia on Virus Spat

Bloomberg News
May 19, 2020, 12:47 PM GMT+7 Updated on May 19, 2020, 7:39 PM GMT+7
Bloomberg/asia

• Australian products could be in danger if China escalates row
• Australia had called for probe into origin of coronavirus

China is considering targeting more Australian exports including wine and dairy, according to people familiar with the matter, in what would be a dramatic deterioration in ties as the key trading partners spar over the coronavirus outbreak.

Chinese officials have drawn up a list of potential goods also including seafood, oatmeal and fruit that could be subject to stricter quality checks, anti-dumping probes, tariffs or customs delays, the people said, asking not to be identified as the discussions are private. State media could also encourage consumer boycotts, they said, adding a final decision on the measures had not been made.

Australia, which is the world’s most-China dependent developed economy, has raised Beijing’s ire by calling for an investigation into the origins of the pandemic. President Xi Jinping’s government is sensitive to criticism of its handling of the outbreak and has a track record of using trade as a diplomatic cudgel, with South Korea, Japan and Taiwan all experiencing reprisals in recent years.

China has already barred meat imports from four Australian slaughterhouses for “technical” reasons, and slapped tariffs of more than 80% on Australian barley late Monday after a long-running inquiry. Any additional measures will depend on how Australia addresses China’s objections, the people said, adding Beijing doesn’t intend to publicly acknowledge any link between its trade actions and the calls for a virus probe.

A stock pile of barley sits under a tarpaulin at a grain facility in Balliang, Victoria.
Photographer: Carla Gottgens/Bloomberg

Shares of some Australian-listed companies that export to China sank on prospects for more trade disruptions. A2 Milk Co., which counts on China for about 40% of its sales, dropped as much as 3.9%, while Treasury Wine Estates Ltd. pared gains on the news.
The office of Australian Trade Minister Simon Birmingham declined to comment. When asked about the list, China’s foreign ministry didn’t address the specifics but said the government “has always sought to find common ground while putting differences aside, cooperate to achieve win-win results and will not harm others to benefit oneself.”

“We hope the Australian and Chinese side can meet in the middle, take more measures to improve bilateral relations and deepen mutual trust, and provide favorable conditions and atmosphere for practical cooperation in various areas,” the ministry said.

Speaking earlier at a briefing in Beijing on Tuesday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said China would back a resolution at the World Health Assembly later Tuesday that calls for a “comprehensive assessment” of the pandemic that differs from “Australia’s earlier proposal of a so-called independent global review.”
“We suggest the Australia side to go through the text carefully,” Zhao said. “If Australia is willing to change its course and give up the political manipulation of the pandemic, we will welcome that.”

Wuhan Hygiene Emergency Response Team staff leave the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan on Jan. 11.
Photographer: Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images

Later on Tuesday, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Health Minister Greg Hunt welcomed the resolution’s commitment to an “impartial, independent and comprehensive” evaluation of the lessons learned from the virus response.

“Australia has been clear and transparent in calling for an independent review into Covid-19, which is an unprecedented global health and economic crisis,” they said. “Australia will continue to be a consistent and constructive voice in the international community to advance and protect our national interest and the global interest.”
China is Australia’s most important trading partner, with agricultural shipments alone totaling about A$16 billion ($10 billion) in 2018-19. While the big ticket items of iron ore, coal and natural gas that China needs to build and fuel its economy so far haven’t been mentioned, education and tourism could also be vulnerable to reprisals. Beijing’s ambassador to Australia last month suggested Chinese tourists and students may decide to boycott the nation.

Critical Market

As Australia slides toward its first recession in almost 30 years, the economic hit of more widespread trade measures couldn’t come at a worse time.
The impact “would be very keenly felt given we are in a global recession and Chinese demand is not only very large but a key source of relative strength in the global economy,” said Roland Rajah, an economist at Sydney-based think tank the Lowy Institute. “Finding alternative export markets is difficult in the best of times but virtually impossible right now.”

Any shift of focus to Australia’s mining exports “could signify a real escalation in tensions,” said Rajah, who previously worked at the Asian Development Bank and the Reserve Bank of Australia. “Not only because it is far more important to us, but because China itself would be paying a high price if they went down that path.”
China is Australia’s biggest overseas destination for wine and dairy, with shipments growing to $754 million and $564 million, respectively.

Tensions Simmer

While Australia and China entered a free trade agreement in late 2015, tensions between the two nations have been simmering for years. Passing laws against foreign interference in 2018, Australia accused Beijing of “meddling” in its government, media and education system. Like the U.S., it has also banned Huawei Technologies Co. from building its 5G network on security concerns.

The Huawei ban was seen as the catalyst for China’s barley anti-dumping probe that began in 2018, and a slowdown of Australian coal shipments into Chinese ports. China also restricted canola imports from Canada after the nation detained a Huawei executive.

“China has been practicing economic coercion against many countries over the past 10 years,” said Rory Medcalf, head of the National Security College at the Australian National University in Canberra. “As we’ve seen with the barley tariffs, economic coercion is about applying short-term economic and political pain but it will be difficult for China to sustain such tactics against the wide range of countries that want the pandemic to be investigated. I don’t see that China can succeed in singling out Australia indefinitely on this issue.”

Shi Yinhong, an adviser to China’s cabinet and a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing, said ties between the two nations were more likely to deteriorate than improve, given Australia’s foreign policy alignment with the U.S.

“If the Australian government’s rhetoric is still loud and it sticks to its current demands, China may take more severe countermeasures,” he said. “If the Australian government -- mindful of its economic interests and opposition from the business community -- steps back, China would not need to take such steps.”

China isn't self-sufficient and its imports are massive - they'll be confronted by reality

Without the "massive" imports they will not survive. It will teach them...

They are not so sufficient as (please no names here)...

they'll be confronted by reality

You tell em, Dep'ty Sheriff.




Gotta few aussie barley farmers wanna speak to ya, boss.

Originally Posted by Klondyke

They are not so sufficient as (please no names here)...

Christ, he's off again.

Another day, another whataboutism...