Sydney: China has issued an alert, warning its citizens not to travel to Australia in the latest sign of deteriorating relations.
The Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism published a statement on its website on Friday night saying that discrimination and violent behavior against Chinese and Asians are on the rise due to the Covid-19 epidemic. The ministry told Chinese tourists to be on alert for their safety and not travel to Australia.
The warning from Australia’s largest trading partner follows the imposition of tariffs on barley shipments after Prime Minister Scott Morrison led calls for an independent probe into the origins of the coronavirus in Wuhan. Australia is the most China-reliant economy in the developed world, leaving it vulnerable to diplomatic blowback.
Australia’s Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Simon Birmingham said the Chinese government’s claims were false, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported Saturday.
“We reject China’s assertions in this statement, which have no basis in fact,” he said. “Australia is enjoying world-leading success in suppressing the spread of Covid-19 and, when the health advice allows, we look forward to again welcoming visitors from all backgrounds to our safe and hospitable nation.”
Australia this month announced a tough new screening regime on foreign investors seeking to buy sensitive assets as it bids to bolster national security. Telecommunications, energy, technology and defense-manufacturing companies will be included in the zero-dollar threshold for screening.
The changes, intended to be legislated this year and enforced from Jan. 1, will include a new national security test and give the treasurer last-resort powers to force asset sales. Beijing responded with verbal attacks on the conservative Australian government, saying it was doing the bidding of key ally the U.S.
The tariffs on Australian barley imposed last month and a ban on beef from four meatworks have raised fears in Canberra that the Chinese government is using “economic coercion” in retaliation.
Before Australia’s calls for a probe into the origins of the coronavirus, its diplomatic ties with China were already under stress. The government cited Beijing’s “meddling” in national affairs as a catalyst for its anti-foreign interference laws passed in 2018, the same year it banned Huawei Technologies Co. from helping build its 5G network.
Power Plays
Australia isn’t alone in receiving abrupt boycotts of key trade items by China following political disagreements. South Korea, Japan and Taiwan have all experienced this power flex in recent years.
After South Korea’s Lotte Group agreed to sell the Korean government land for a U.S. anti-missile system known as Thaad in 2017, China curbed tour groups to the nation and suspended businesses of Lotte Mart stores for allegedly violating fire safety norms.
When China was locked in a dispute with Japan in 2012 about competing claims to uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, angry Chinese took to the streets and called for a boycott of Japanese goods. As relations with Taiwan soured last year, Beijing suspended a program that allowed individual tourists from 47 Chinese cities to travel to Taiwan. – Bloomberg
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