Australia has rebuffed China’s offer to “join hands” in the wake of the Trump tariffs as Beijing tries to boost trade and undo some damage from the 125 per cent levies on Chinese goods in the US.
“We don’t want to see a trade war between America and China to be clear, but our focus is on actually diversifying our trade. We are doing a lot more in Southeast Asia, in countries like Indonesia, which is a massive potential market on our doorstep,” deputy prime minister Richard Marles said during a TV interview.
“I don’t think we’ll be holding China’s hand”, Mr Marles said.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese also brushed off the suggestion of “joining hands” with China but used a more conciliatory approach: “Our trade relationship with China is an important one. Trade represents one in four of Australian jobs and China is by a long distance our major trading partner.”
“These trade issues affect 20 per cent of the global market. 80 per cent of trade does not involve the United States. There are opportunities for Australia and we intend to seize them.”
The comments come after Chinese ambassador to the country, Xiao Qian, wrote in a newspaper editorial that Beijing and Australia should work together to defend international trade.
“Under the new circumstances, China stands ready to join hands with Australia and the international community to jointly respond to the changes of the world,” Mr Xiao said in an op-ed published in the Sydney Morning Herald.
“The only way to stop the hegemonic and bullying behaviour of the US in harvesting the whole world is to strengthen solidarity and collaboration, and to jointly resist,” the ambassador wrote in an op-ed for the Nine Group newspaper.
“A weak compromise will only allow the US to sabotage the international order and rules even more wantonly, dragging the world economy, which has already embarked on the track of a stable recovery, into a quagmire and an abyss,” he said.
Mr Marles, speaking with Sky News, said: “We are not going to be holding hands with China in respect of any contest that is going on in the world.”
Meanwhile, Australia’s top economic regulators held an emergency meeting on Wednesday to assess how the US tariffs might weaken China’s growth and, in turn, reduce demand for Australian exports.
However, treasurer Jim Chalmers remained confident that the Australian economy would continue to grow.
Beijing’s diplomatic gesture follows a Chinese naval live-fire exercise in the Tasman Sea as the Chinese Navy circled the Australian coast in February, and comes amid tensions over promises from both Labor and the Coalition to terminate a Chinese company’s long-term lease on the Port of Darwin, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
In 2015, the Northern Territory government leased the Port of Darwin to Chinese-owned Landbridge Group for 99 years, approved during Malcolm Turnbull’s tenure. This led to a national security debate in the country.
