Australia lashes out at China – denounces threat

The Australian government has delivered a scathing assessment of China’s position within the global trading sector

In a statement provided to the World Trade Organisation, the Morrison government calls out Beijing for trade coercion on exports that previously totalled 20 billion a year.

The government says “WTO rules do not permit a member – however large – to impose conditions such as these on trade with another member”.

The statement forms part of a regular review process conducted by the Trade Organisation into trade practices of member nations.

It has been published on Twitter by Australia’s trade ambassador and retweeted by Finance Minister Simon Birmingham.

This follows Australia pushing to internationalise its push back against Beijing’s use of its market power to punish trade partners for alleged misbehaviour.

The statement says “China’s actions go beyond their impact on Australian exporters – they raise the risk and uncertainty of the China market for the global business community”.