Since Australia began pushing for an independent inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus, China has hampered imports of its beef and barley
to Australia, Cheng Jingye, recently warned Australia it was treading a “dangerous” path by pressing for an independent inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus . If relations between the two countries soured, Mr Cheng threatened, Chinese tourists might have “second thoughts” about holidaying Down Under. Families might wonder whether Australia really was the “best place to send their kids” to study. Ordinary Chinese might no longer want to “drink Australian wine, eat Australian beef”.
The abattoir ban blocks perhaps 35% of Australia’s exports of beef to China. Karen Penfold, whose family is among the exporters affected, says it has been scrambling to find other buyers for its prime steak. Barley growers, based mostly in Australia’s west, send at least half, or A$600m , of their annual exports to China, where the grain is used as animal feed and to make beer. Farmers reckon the new tariffs will all but kill the trade.
Yet there is little doubt that China’s moves are in retaliation for criticism of the way it handled the pandemic. “This is clearly a case of political coercion,” says Peter Jennings of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a think-tank in Canberra. China has long resented Australia’s suspicious politicians, who have legislated to stop China meddling in Australian democracy and were quick to bar Huawei, a Chinese telecoms giant, from building 5networks in Australia on security grounds.
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