China goes to the mattresses to punish the government challenging its pandemic response. Australia pushes back.
China goes to the mattresses to punish the government challenging its pandemic response. Australia pushes back.
W ouldn’t you like to fight back tyranny by drinking wine? Not just any kind of wine — Australian wine.
The Australian wine industry is currently suffering. China’s recently imposed tariffs on Australian wine imports range from 107 percent to more than 200 percent. Australia used to export US$1 billion worth of wine to China annually; now, the Chinese market for Australian wine is expected to dry up overnight, as most Australian wines have nearly tripled in price, with some smaller wineries having to shut down for good.
Why did China impose such high tariffs on Australian wine? It is all part of Beijing’s ongoing bullying campaign against Australia, in an attempt to force Canberra to bend to Beijing’s will.
It began in April, when Australia led a coalition of more than 120 countries, demanding that the World Health Organization (WHO) conduct an “impartial, independent, and comprehensive evaluation of the international response to the pandemic, the actions of the WHO, and its ‘timeline’ of the pandemic.” Canberra indicated that such an inquiry is necessary for all countries to be better prepared for the next pandemic. Australia’s proposal was officially adopted by WHO’s decision-making body, the World Health Assembly, at its annual meeting in May.
Beijing, however, views that step as an attempt to blame the Chinese government for its mishandling of the coronavirus outbreak. Instinctively, Beijing shifted immediately to attack mode. Hu Xijin, editor of the Global Times, a Chinese tabloid, compared Australia to “a piece of chewed-up gum stuck under China’s shoe.” China’s embassy in Canberra warned that Chinese consumers might boycott Australian beef and wine.
China is known for its “bullying diplomacy” — using its enormous economic power to coerce other nations to bend to its will. Any nation that stands up in disagreement is doomed to face Beijing’s backlash. For example, after a committee appointed by the Norwegian parliament awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize to imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, Beijing imposed an embargo on Norwegian salmon and halted trade negotiations between the two nations for six years. In 2017, after South Korea decided to allocate a construction site for American-made anti-missile systems, Beijing retaliated by preventing Chinese tourists from visiting South Korea, ordering Chinese companies to boycott South Korean companies, and diverting Chinese consumers from South Korean retail stores in China.
Australia is in a vulnerable situation. Its export-oriented economy depends heavily on China, its largest trading partner. In 2018–19, Australia exported to China close to $100 billion worth of goods, including approximately a third of Australia’s farm produce. So it was no surprise that, after Australia called for a WHO inquiry into the COVID-19 outbreak, Beijing responded by imposing an 80 percent tariff on Australia’s barley exports while suspending beef imports from four major meat-processing plants in Australia, citing “violations of inspection and quarantine requirements,” without specifying what they were.
Beijing followed up the tariff increase with baseless accusations of prevalent racism against people of Asian descent in Australia and warned Chinese students and tourists to stay away from the country. Education and tourism are two of Australia’s biggest industries, generating more than $80 billion per year in revenue. By discouraging its students and tourists from traveling to Australia, China implicitly imposed another economic sanction on the country. The day after Prime Minister Scott Morrison told Beijing that Australia wouldn’t trade away its values despite Beijing’s economic sanctions, China convicted an Australian man, Karm Gilespie, of drug smuggling, and sentenced him to death.
After Beijing effectively ended the “one country, two systems” framework and imposed the draconian security law on Hong Kong on July 1, Morrison announced that Australia would join other nations in suspending its extradition treaty with Hong Kong. His government would also give 10,000 Hong Kongers on student and temporary visas a pathway to permanent residency in Australia.
An infuriated Beijing intensified its pressure campaign against Australia in August when it detained Cheng Lei, an Australian citizen of Chinese descent who worked for China’s state media outlet CGTN (China Global Television Network). China’s foreign ministry waited until early September to announce that Ms. Cheng was suspected of “criminal activity endangering China’s national security.” Shortly after Cheng’s detention, the Australian government assisted its last two journalists in China in fleeing the authoritarian state.
Then the Chinese embassy in Australia shared with Australian media a detailed list of 14 grievances that Beijing has against Canberra, blaming Australia for “poisoning the bilateral relationship.” China regards the Australian government’s criticism of Beijing’s human-rights violations in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and Taiwan as interference in China’s internal affairs. Yet some items on China’s grievance list constitute its direct interference in internal Australian affairs, as Beijing blames the Australian government for some unfriendly media and think-tank reports as well as for legislation that may impact China’s infrastructure investments in the country.
The Australian government responded that all the items on the grievance list are “key to Australia’s national interest and non-negotiable.” Morrison further explained in an interview that “Australia will always be ourselves. . . . We will always set our own laws and our own rules according to our national interests — not at the behest of any other nation, whether that’s the U.S. or China or anyone else.” Since Australia stood firm under Beijing’s pressure, Beijing announced that it would impose outrageously high tariffs on Australian wines.
Beijing’s bullying of Australia has gone beyond economic measures. In late November, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian tweeted a falsified image, showing an Australian solider threatening to slit a child’s throat, with both Australian and Afghan flags as background. The caption read: “Shocked by the murder of Afghan civilians & prisoners by Australian soldiers.” Several countries criticized China for allowing a government official to spread such a shameful lie, which not only violated diplomatic norms but also diminished China’s image as a world power. Despite international criticism and Australia’s repeated demand for an apology, neither Zhao nor the Chinese government offered one. Instead, China doubled down on its attacks, claiming that the coronavirus originated in Australia.
The way Beijing continues to bully Australia should alarm all of us. It reveals how China expects its relationship with other nations to be — that Beijing is the master of a new Sino-centric world order and that every other nation is to be simply a subordinate. Countries can hope for peace and prosperity only if they first bend to Beijing’s will and never criticize Beijing’s actions, no matter how atrocious, domestic or international.
It took courage for Australia to stand firm against Beijing’s coercion. How long Australia, a small country, can withstand the bullying is uncertain. Australia is a U.S. ally, and it is also now at the front line of fighting back China’s aggression. Australia deserves our support.
The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), composed of more than 200 political leaders from a range of political parties and representing 19 nations’ legislatures, is calling on all freedom-loving nations and people to buy Australian wines this December, as a gesture to show that the world will not be intimidated by China.
“Australian wine is most certainly the crown gem of the Southern Hemisphere,” Ellie Bufkin, a certified sommelier, tells me, “and much like the people, Australian wine tends to be outgoing and friendly.” She suggests that you ask the staff for their favorites if you look for Australian wines in your local stores. If you shop online, she recommends checking out Australian wines at Totalwine.com, Wine.com, and WineAccess.com.
Supporting our allies and fighting back tyranny doesn’t always have to be an agonizing experience. This December, grab a bottle or even a case of Australian wines. Let’s toast to freedom!