Australia Cancels Cooperation Agreement, China: Leave Cold War Mentality

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Wang Wenbin (Source: qa.chineseembassy.org)

JAKARTA - China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has warned Australia about the risk of worsening bilateral relations between the two countries after Kangaroo Country canceled the agreement between the State of Victoria and China under the Belt and Road Initiative.

"Australia is the only country that has torn the Belt and Road Initiative agreement which sets a dangerous precedent," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said.

"China reserves the right to take further action," Wang stressed at a regular press conference.

Australia was also asked to abandon the Cold War mentality and ideological bias, to correct its mistakes and change course.

"The Australian side reviewed more than 1,000 deals and only decided to cancel four of them and two of them were deals with China. So Australia's claim that the decision does not target a specific country is no longer valid," said Wang.

Wang warned Australia against traveling further down the wrong path to avoid aggravating already tense Sino-Australian relations.

This harsh criticism refers to a statement by Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne who said he had received a thousand notifications from the states about the deals they have with foreign governments under a new process that gave him veto power over the arrangement.

"This scheme is very focused on Australia's national interests. It's about ensuring the consistency of our foreign relations across Australia and definitely not aimed at one country," he told ABC radio's AM program, Thursday.

Nevertheless, Payne said Australia was committed to staying in touch with China. He also called on all governments around the world to respect the decision-making authority of the Australian Government.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the agreement was canceled because the federal government did not want another level of government to enter into a treaty that goes against Australia's foreign policy.

"We will always act in the national interest of Australia, to protect Australia. But also ensure we can advance our national interests in a free and open Indo Pacific and seek balance for freedom," he explained.

Under the new process, countries must consult their foreign ministers before signing agreements with other countries.

To note, Australia's conservative coalition government refuses to agree to a country-level Belt and Road Initiative deal with China.

But Victorian Prime Minister Dan Andrews signed an agreement to promote infrastructure development initiatives in 2018 and 2019, saying it would bring Chinese investment into his country.

Diplomatic relations between Australia and China have deteriorated since Canberra called for an international investigation into the origins of the coronavirus, which Beijing retaliated with a trade war.

Separately, Hans Hendrischke from the University of Sydney Business School said canceling the agreement would have a minimal commercial impact because no projects had yet begun.

"It has no legal force and there is no special agreement," said Hans Hendrischke.