[ad_1]
washington [US]Feb.18 (ANI): Diplomats report that despite recent signs of a diplomatic thaw, there has been no change in China or Australia’s policy.
Senior Chinese and Australian trade officials meet for the first time since 2019. While Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao described the talks with Australian Foreign Minister Don Farrell as an important step in getting bilateral economic and trade cooperation back on track, it is unlikely that there will be any major improvement in bilateral economic relations between the two countries, the diplomat reported. .
Read also | PHILIPPINES: Search is underway for Cessna plane missing from Albay with four people on board.
Wang warned that the trade dispute would not be resolved anytime soon. Chinese officials argue that Australia must first take steps to stem the slide in bilateral relations and create a better atmosphere for negotiations.
The Diplomat reported that Xi would never admit he was the one who capitulated after a two-and-a-half-year failed strategy to set Australia’s example by cutting ties and imposing trade sanctions. More than two years of trade restrictions have failed to bring Australia to its knees.
Recent reports suggest that Beijing’s economic sanctions against Australia have not been effective. Instead, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is forced to coexist with an increasingly critical Australia.
Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar took the opportunity to indirectly attack China, saying in Sydney on Saturday that China’s rise, its rising share in the global economy and technology, and its global influence are worrying. But he insisted that this decade we will see more great powers exert greater influence on global debates and global outcomes.
China’s aggressive foreign policy has made it unpopular with Australians.
When China uses diplomatic and economic coercion to punish Australia for demanding an investigation into the origins of COVID-19, it turns more Australians against China. Negative sentiment towards China remains high in Australia. A recent poll showed that three-quarters of Australians believe China could become a serious military threat within the next two decades. As the diplomat reported, this poses serious problems for any move towards normalization.
Australia has found new markets for its exports by redirecting them to countries such as India and Mexico.
Under Albanese, Australia is continuing many of the same bilateral and multilateral efforts it inherited from the regime of his predecessor, Scott Morrison. These include working with the U.S., Japan, and India as part of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (commonly known as the Quad); working with India and Japan to improve supply chain resilience; continuing to sign new security agreements with the U.S. and U.K. on nuclear submarine development; signing with Japan new security agreements; and deep engagement with Pacific island nations like Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.
Notably, EAM Jaishankar also visited Fiji earlier this week and signed several MoUs.
Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka also said on Thursday that India stood by his country in Fiji’s hour of need and will always be a special friend and trusted partner.
“I am pleased to say that India will always be Fiji’s special friend and trusted partner,” Fiji’s Prime Minister said in a joint press statement with Foreign Minister S Jaishankar in Suva, Fiji, on Thursday.
Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Ligamamada Rabuka noted that he discussed bilateral co-operation during his meeting with Foreign Affairs S Jaishankar and said that China was not present at the meeting, which they considered ” It’s rude to talk about someone who isn’t in the building” “.
On the other hand, the Australian government is also working hard to build relationships and partnerships with Pacific island countries, including India, and other middle powers in the Indo-Pacific region. There have also been reports of plans to deploy six nuclear-capable US B-52 bombers at Tyndall Air Force Base in northern Australia. In addition, Australia plans to build 11 large jet fuel storage tanks, providing the United States with refueling capabilities closer to China than its main oil depot in Hawaii. The above measures and the signing of AUKUS (the trilateral security pact between Australia, the UK and the US) show that Canberra will not bow to Beijing’s increasingly assertive political and military posture in the region, even if it hurts Australia’s interests. own short-term economic interests.
According to recent reports in the Australian media, the only products China buys from Australia are things it absolutely needs and cannot easily buy elsewhere.
Political dynamics hit a low point in 2020 when Australia called for an independent inquiry into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. For Beijing, it was seen as a direct attack on China’s reputation and the latest in what Beijing called Canberra’s “series of misguided actions”.
Over the next few months, Chinese authorities suspended the import licenses of major Australian beef producers, ordered several power plants and steel mills to stop buying Australian coal, and imposed punitive tariffs on Australian barley and wine.
Australia is actively seeking other economic partners. At the end of 2022, it signed the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement, in which the two countries agreed to cut tariffs on goods by more than 85% to reduce their dependence on China.
In response to China’s economic coercion, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, the Czech Republic, Lithuania and several other countries have developed mutual assistance. In particular, last April, the European Union approved 130 million euros ($140 million) in financial aid for Lithuanian companies.
This is the best response to the CCP’s own decades-long strategy of maintaining a “united front” with allies and dividing and conquering. (Arnie)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
share now
[ad_2]
Source link