By Elishya Perera
SYDNEY, Australia (CWBN)_ 50 ships laden with Australian coal are stranded off Chinese ports, amidst mounting tensions between the two countries.
It is reported that the ships with Australian coal worth more than $500 million, and about 1000 crew members on-board, have been stranded at sea, while waiting to enter Chinese ports.
Beijing said yesterday (Nov 25) that the delay was owing to stronger testing and examinations being conducted on the imports.
Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison stated that he has appointed some of his best people to ease tensions with the communist regime, following sanctions imposed on beef, wine, lobster, barley and timber exported from Canberra in the recent months.
Amidst this “extraordinary period” in the relationship between the two countries, Morrison asserted that surrendering Australia’s sovereignty would not resolve the disputes. He added that Canberra will “work the process through with the Chinese government to get the best possible outcome that we can.”
The Prime Minister also noted that walking a middle path between China and the United States was quite demanding, and added that while Australia wants a “happy co-existence” with Beijing, Canberra also has an incredible relationship with the US as “like-minded countries with a similar outlook with liberal democratic values.”
Beijing has blamed Australia for the growing diplomatic row, following Morrison’s calls for investigations on the origin of the Covid-19 pandemic which emerged from Wuhan, while the ban on Huawei’s participation in Australia’s 5G wireless network and Canberra’s involvement in the WTO anti-dumping cases against various Chinese exports have contributed to the disputes.
“The root cause of the deteriorating bilateral ties is Australia’s repeated wrong acts and remarks on issues concerning China’s core interests and major concerns as well as its provocative and confrontational actions,” the Chinese Embassy in Canberra said in a statement posted on its website on Monday (Nov 23).
Nevertheless, Beijing appears to have toned down its retaliation in the past few days, after the Australian Prime Minister acknowledged China’s contribution towards alleviation of poverty, and claimed that Canberra did not seek to restrain China economically. Following this speech made by Morrison, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesman Zhao Lijian in Beijing said, “China noticed Prime Minister Morrison’s positive comments on the global influence of China’s economic growth and China’s poverty alleviation efforts.” “We hope Australia will make independent, objective, sensible choices that serve its own interests,” he added.
