Canberra:
China is insecure and defensive and this indicates it perceives threats exactly where there are none, Australia’s most senior diplomat mentioned on Wednesday, a characterisation Beijing dismissed as “wholly untrue”.
The comments come at a time of improved tensions in between Canberra and Beijing more than Chinese telecoms firm Huawei, China’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and its human rights record, even though the two nations stay robust trading partners.
Frances Adamson, Secretary of Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, mentioned China sought to project strength, but the reality was somewhat diverse.
“Few really grasp that this great power is still dogged by insecurity as much as driven by ambition. That it has a deeply defensive mindset – perceiving external threats even as it pushes its interests over those of others,” Adamson mentioned in a speech in Canberra just before she leaves workplace this week.
“It is too ready to suspect containment instead of judging issues on their individual merits.”
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian rejected Adamson’s characterisation of China as “wholly untrue”.
“We hope the Australian government can view us with an objective, rational and responsible attitude,” he told a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday.
DISPUTES
Relations with China, currently rocky right after Australia banned Huawei from its nascent 5G broadband networking in 2018, cooled additional right after Canberra in 2020 referred to as for an independent investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, initial reported in central China in 2019.
China responded by imposing tariffs on Australian commodities, such as wine and barley and restricted imports of Australian beef, coal and grapes, moves described by the United States as “economic coercion”.
However China remains Australia’s biggest trading companion. In the 12 months to March, Australia exported A$149 billion ($112 billion) worth of goods to China, down .6% from the prior year, but exports have been supported by robust costs for iron ore, the biggest single item in trade with China.
Adamson’s speech came just hours right after a broadly watched poll showed Australians’ trust in China has plunged and for the initial time more folks view Beijing as a safety threat than a financial companion.
The Lowy Institute’s annual poll shows more than 60% of Australians see China as a safety threat, up drastically from 2018 when 18% of respondents had the exact same view.
Zhao, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, mentioned he questioned the validity of the final results, as the poll had surveyed small more than 2,000 folks.
“Views of China are to some extent inseparable from the crackdown in Hong Kong, the detention of Uighurs, the disappearance of Australian citizens in China,” mentioned Natasha Kassam, Director, Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program, at the Lowy Institute.
The final results indicate Australia’s conservative government has public assistance for its assertive strategy to China regardless of a series of trade implications.
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