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China-Australia relations: top exporting state down under calls for reset in China ties
- Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan says ‘this isn’t about kowtowing to other countries’
- Comments come two days after G7 leaders chided China over a wide range of issues
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Australia’s biggest exporting state urged Canberra on Tuesday to stop antagonising China, the country’s top trade partner, in remarks that came amid escalating criticism of Beijing led by the United States, Australia’s main ally.
“This isn’t about kowtowing to other countries and giving in,” Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan said at Australia’s biggest oil and gas industry conference, being held in Perth. “There needs to be a national reset in that relationship.”
Ties with China worsened last year when Australia called for an independent investigation into the origin of the coronavirus, which sparked trade reprisals from China that hit Australian goods including barley, coal, lobster and wine.
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Relations had already soured after Australia banned Chinese tech giant Huawei from the country’s 5G network in 2018.
Beseeching the federal government to stop talk of conflict and trade retaliation, McGowan asked: “How is it in our interests to be reckless with trading relationships that fund and drive our prosperity and our nation forward?”
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