Australia 'disappointed' as China suspends economic talks, remains open to 'dialogue'

After Beijing announced it was suspending high-level economic links with Canberra, the Australian Federal government described China’s decision as “disappointing” but insisted that it remains open to “dialogue”. The Chines government on May 6 announced that it has decided to suspend all its activities under the Strategic Economic Dialogue with Australia, amid worsening relations between the two. The same day, Australian Trade Minister Dam Tehan said that the now-suspended dialogue between the two nations provided an “important forum” for both the countries to work through issues. But he also noted that no such talks had taken place since 2017. 

According to the Australian media outlet, 9News, Tehan said that it is “disappointing” to hear that China has made this decision. He did not reject moving forward with the $150 billion in two-way trade mechanism but said that the Strategic Economic Dialogue, which was held in 2017, is an “important forum” for Australia and China to work through issues relevant to the country’s economic partnership. Further, Tehan said that Australia “remain open” to holding the dialogue and engaging at the ministerial level. 

Meanwhile, China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said that the move to suspend dialogue with Australia was prompted by the "Cold War mindset" of some Australian officials and politicians. The China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue is a high-level diplomatic mechanism. It is the principal bilateral economic forum between the two countries and has been used to promote investment between the two.

Australian-China relations 

This decision surfaced a couple of weeks after Australia scraped the controversial Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) agreement with China citing the deal as against its national interest. Last month, Australian Foreign Minister, Marise Payne said that the BRI deal has been cancelled under the Commonwealth's new foreign veto laws. The cancellation could also mean an end to further Sino- Australian cooperation in the fields of industrial production, biotechnology and agriculture. 

Meanwhile, China said that Australia's decision to terminate BRI agreements was among several "negative moves" that had hurt bilateral relations. According to South China Morning Post, China's top diplomat who is in Canberra currently, blamed Australia for deteriorating ties between the nations, accusing it of economic coercion and "provocations" in a wide-ranging speech that painted Beijing as a victim.

(Image: AP)