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China sends ‘warning shot to Australia’ as patience wears thin
- Beijing is running out of economic cards to play to punish Canberra, observer says
- ‘Neither side wants to cancel’ their iron ore trade
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China’s latest squeeze on Australia may be largely symbolic, meant as a warning shot for Canberra and other middle powers in the age of US-China rivalry, observers said.
In the latest in a series of moves, China’s National Development and Reform Commission said on Thursday it would “indefinitely suspend” all activities under the China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue, a forum launched in 2014 and last convened in 2017.
The economic planning agency said it made the decision because Canberra’s “Cold War mindset and ideological discrimination” had disrupted cooperation.
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The decision follows restrictions on a wide range of Australian imports, from lobsters to wine and timber.
Australia has also cancelled deals struck between the state of Victoria and China over Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, a massive infrastructure programme.
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China has yet to use the nuclear option – cutting the iron ore trade – but observers said Beijing was making clear that it was running out of patience.
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