to the Australian government’s decision last month to revoke two agreements signed between the state of Victoria and China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which prompted the Chinese government to warn that relations with Australia were bound to worsen.
However, the NDRC’s decision is expected to have little practical impact on Pacific nation. While the last Strategic Economic Dialogue between the two countries was held in 2017, since then, diplomatic ties between Beijing and Cabrera have deteriorated severely. This was on account of Australia’s blocking of Chinese telecom giant Huawei, followed by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s calls for an investigation into the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic last year.
Meanwhile, Australian Trade Minister Dan Tehan said the commission’s decision was “disappointing” since the Strategic Economic Dialogue was an important forum for Beijing and Canberra to remedy issues linked to economic relations between the two countries.
“We remain open to holding the dialogue and engaging at the ministerial level,” he said in a statement.
