Australia’s China Ties Fray Even as Two-Way Trade Booms
The government in Canberra puts strategic concerns over economic imperatives.
China stopped beef imports from four Australian meat-processing plants in May, a move seen as retaliatory.
Photographer: Carla Gottgens/BloombergAs he took the podium to address Australia’s Parliament in November 2014, China’s President Xi Jinping lauded a relationship at an all-time high. “We are not burdened by historical problems between us, nor do we have any conflict of fundamental interests,” Xi told lawmakers. He vowed the nations would be “harmonious neighbors who stick together in both good times and bad times.”
Five years later, the bad times have come—and the two nations are poles apart, despite their multi-billion dollar trade relationship. A downturn in their relations tipped into a crisis in April, when Australia, a strong ally of the U.S., led international calls for China to allow investigators into Wuhan to probe the origins of the novel coronavirus, a move that badly bruised China’s pride.