In the deep freeze: China cuts off all economic dialogue with Australia
China has suspended all activities under a major economic framework with Australia, blaming the Morrison government’s attitude towards the relationship.
The move effectively cuts off all diplomatic contact with Beijing under the China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue.
Chinaās National Development and Reform Commission released a strongly-worded statement to explain its decision on Thursday.
āRecently, some Australian Commonwealth Government officials launched a series of measures to disrupt the normal exchanges and cooperation between China and Australia out of Cold War mindset and ideological discrimination,ā the commission said.
āBased on the current attitude of the Australian Commonwealth Government toward China-Australia cooperation, the National Development and Reform Commission of the Peopleās Republic of China decides to indefinitely suspend all activities under the framework of the China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue.ā
The move will make it even harder to repair strained diplomatic relations between Australia and China.
It is the first major response from the Chinese government since the Morrison government cancelled Victoriaās Belt and Road agreement in March.
You might like
Earlier, Scott Morrison chose his words carefully as the prospect of military conflict between China and Taiwan continues to grow.
Taiwan has warned it is preparing for a āfinal assaultā from Beijing and has called on support from Australia.
The prime minister was circumspect when asked whether Australia stood with Taiwan.
Australia abides by a āOne Chinaā policy in its engagement with Taiwan, meaning there are no formal diplomatic relations with Taipei.
But Canberra maintains trade, cultural and other exchanges with Taiwan separate from mainland China.
Morrison said Australia āalways honoured all of our arrangements in the Indo-Pacificā and singled out its alliance with the United States.
Stay informed, daily
āWeāre very cognisant of the uncertainties in our region and Iām not one to speak at length on these things, because I donāt wish to add to any uncertainty,āĀ he told 3AW radio.
āBut thatās why we have our security arrangements we have in place.ā
Pressed again on whether Australia stood with Taiwan, the prime minister replied: āWe have always stood for freedom in our part of the world.ā
The Morrison governmentās rhetoric has grown increasingly hawkish in the past fortnight, with senior officials raising the prospect of a military conflict with China over Taiwan.
Home Affairs secretary Mike Pezzullo warned the ādrums of warā are beating as the prospect of war over Taiwan grows.
Defence Minister Peter Dutton has also said a conflict over Taiwan should not be discounted.
The prime minister said Pezzulloās speech was not authorised by the minister.
However, Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews has previously confirmed she read the āvery strongā speech in advance.
āThe overarching message from government is that we need to be alert but not alarmed,ā she said last week.
āWeāre obviously very conscious as a government of what is happening in the Pacific region, in particular, and we will always put Australia first, second and third.ā
Morrison said Australia wanted to work with China and others to uphold the rule of law and free trade throughout the region.
āThatās what ensures the Indo-Pacific remains free and open,ā he said.
āThatās what weāre for ā a free and open Indo-Pacific ā and whoever is in favour of that, we are working well together with them.ā
Want to see more stories from InDaily Qld in your Google search results?
- Click here to set InDaily Qld as a preferred source.
- Tick the box next to "InDaily Qld". That's it.
