Australia Provokes China (Again)

As if bilateral relations are not strained enough, Australia persists in provoking China. 

The latest act came on Wednesday when the country’s Foreign Minister Marise Payne (left) used new federal powers enacted in December 2020 to rip up deals made between the state of Victoria and China. 

The Australian government is now able to block or curtail foreign participation in a broad range of sectors such as infrastructure, trade cooperation, tourism, cultural collaboration, science, health and education, including university research partnerships. 

FYI, Victoria had decided to go it alone to sign up to China's Belt and Road initiative, with two agreements in 2018 and 2019 – a memorandum of understanding and framework agreement respectively – and which drew criticisms from the federal government, as well as then-US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. 

Canberra is using the same old, tired excuse. It is boldly saying that it backed away from the said agreements to protect Australia's national interest.

That’s a load of bull! If you don’t already know, Australia, a US lapdog has been aggressively hounding China – and its punitive actions include putting a ban on telecoms giant Huawei from building Australia's 5G network and tightening foreign investment laws that disqualify Chinese companies.

Time for China to stop being bullied; time to hit back!