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Australia has canceled agreements between the China Belt and Road Initiative and the Victoria state government, to an extent that could further worsen ties between the two nations.
The Australian federal government has rejected both the memorandum of understanding and the framework agreement signed between Victoria and China’s National Development and Reform Commission, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said in an email statement on Wednesday. . Two other agreements between Victoria and the governments of Iran and Syria have also been rejected.
“I consider these four agreements to be inconsistent with Australia’s foreign policy or are adverse to our foreign relations,” Payne said.
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The bans are the first under laws passed by the national parliament in December that allow the foreign minister to stop new and previously signed agreements between overseas governments and the eight states and territories of Australia, and also with bodies such as local authorities and universities.
Payne’s move could further worsen ties between Australia and its largest trading partner, which have been in freefall for a year after the government called for an independent investigation into the origins of the coronavirus. Beijing has since inflicted a series of trade reprisals, including the imposition of crippling tariffs on Australian barley and wine, while blocking coal shipments.
The action “is another unreasonable and provocative move by the Australian side against China,” the Chinese embassy in Canberra said in an emailed statement. “It also shows that the Australian government has no sincerity in improving Sino-Australian relations; it is bound to do more damage to bilateral relations and will only end up hurting itself.”
No thawing
The announcement came on the same day as a Chinese diplomat indicated that there will be no immediate thaw in the ties between Beijing and Canberra.
“We have done nothing intentionally to harm this relationship and we have seen too many incidents in recent years in which China’s interest has been affected,” Wang Xining, head of the mission at Canberra. Chinese embassy.
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The BIS deals with Victoria, the second most populous state in the nation, with the aim of increasing Chinese participation in new infrastructure projects. They were signed between October 2018 and a year later.
Although the Chinese Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comments sent out outside office hours on Wednesday, in August its spokesman Zhao Lijian told Australia that the cooperation of his nation with Victoria to BRI had brought benefits to both parties.
“Australia should have an objective view of this cooperation and BRI, and not set impediments to China-Australia cooperation,” Zhao said.
Research associations
The laws allow Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government to block or reduce foreign participation in a wide range of sectors such as infrastructure, trade cooperation, tourism, cultural collaboration, science, health and education, including university research associations.
Payne said Wednesday she had been alerted to more than 1,000 agreements between foreign governments and Australian states and territories, local governments and public universities since the laws were enacted.
The law may still allow the federal government to review and repeal memoranda of understanding between Beijing and the state governments of Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania in sectors ranging from investment, scientific cooperation and access to the Antarctic.
“I will continue to consider foreign agreements,” Payne said. “I hope the vast majority are not affected.”
– With the assistance of Colin Keatinge
(Updates with comments from the Chinese embassy in the sixth paragraph.)