- Chinese international relations are continuing to strain as Australia makes a military pact with Japan and our Federal Trade Minister claims a Joe Biden Presidency won’t do much for China and the U.S.
- Simon Birmingham made the comments in a virtual forum hosted by News Corp paper The Australian
- He said while there is unlikely to be a swift change in U.S.-China relations based on the types of tariffs in place, Australia is hoping for more consistency
- China’s Global Times, however, says U.S.-China relations will be determined by the actions of the Five Eyes alliance under a Biden Presidency
- On top of this, the Global Times blasted a new defence deal between Australia and Japan as “dangerous”
- Beijing, through the state-run tabloid, threatened countermeasures against any partnership that looks to “gang up” on China
Chinese international relations are continuing to strain as Australia makes a military pact with Japan and Trade Minister Simon Birmingham claims a Joe Biden Presidency won’t do much for China and the U.S.
China-U.S.
The Minister made the comments in a virtual forum hosted by News Corp paper The Australian, saying Australia is not expecting a swift change in U.S.-China trade relations under President-elect Joe Biden.
“The U.S.-China relationship is clearly one that has been through quite a tumultuous period,” Minister Birmingham said.
“The types of tariffs we’ve had are unlikely to see some sort of swift change or move,” he added.
However, the Minister said while trade relations may still be tense, Australia is hoping for a greater level of consistency and predictability between the world’s two biggest economies.
China’s Global Times, a state-run tabloid that acts as a mouthpiece for the ruling Communist Party, said whether a Biden administration strengthens or weakens relations with China is reliant more upon U.S. allies than the U.S. itself.
Specifically, China said the future of the relationship between the two countries hangs on the Five Eyes alliance — a strategic international partnership between Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.
“Analysts anticipate that Biden will strengthen intelligence sharing and cooperation and coordinating on China-related issues with the Five Eyes,” the Global Times said.
“To what extent the rest members of the alliance will coordinate with the U.S.’ suppression on China will be in part determined by the new administrations’ specific policies,” the paper added.
The paper claimed that the U.S. has for years been encouraging Five Eyes members to “find faults with China”, which the States then exploits for its own benefits to bash Beijing.
While the U.K. and New Zealand have been relatively restrained in their actions against China, the Global Times said, Canada and Australia have been “willing to act as Washington’s little lackeys”.
The Chinese paper said Beijing’s relationship with the U.S. will only worsen if Joe Biden’s Five Eyes partners encourage Washington to continue its anti-Chinese actions.
China-Australia
At the same time, the Global Times also slammed a new military pact between Japan and Australia as “dangerous”.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga met face-to-face this week in Tokyo to announce an “in-principle agreement” on a defence pact known as the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA).
The deal has been six years in the making and is expected to strengthen the strategic and security relationship between the two countries. Of particular focus is a “free, open, inclusive, and stable Indo-Pacific,” according to the PM.
This includes facilitating cooperation in the South China Sea, which is a highly contested region with several Asian nations claiming ownership of different parts of the region — none more so than China, who claims ownership of almost all of the area.
“This agreement paves the way for a new chapter of advanced defence cooperation between our two countries,” Australia’s Prime Minister said.
“The only other such agreement that Japan has struck with another country is with the United States 60 years ago.”
Nevertheless, the Global Times has said Japan and Australia “work on the outdate military alliance and show a confrontational posture”.
“They should know the potential strategic dangers of doing so,” the paper threatened.
“The problem is, they are recklessly taking the first step to conduct deep defence cooperation that targets a third party, and have completely shifted the responsibilities of safeguarding regional unity to China,” it said.
“It’s inevitable that China will take some sort of countermeasures.”
The tabloid concluded that Japan and Australia — and any other country that teams up against China — will pay a “corresponding price” if China’s security is threatened.