Australia top target of Chinese trade restrictions – study

CANBERRA (Reuters) – China issued threats and trade restrictions against 19 countries between 2020 and 2022, with Australia the top target of such “coercive diplomacy”, a report by an Australian security think tank said on Wednesday.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute report said China’s tactic had “mixed success” in changing the policies of target governments and was not successful against Australia, instead highlighting the nation’s resilience.

“Most governments have stood firm, but some have acquiesced. Undeniably, the tactics are harming certain businesses, challenging sovereign decision-making and weakening economic security,” the report said.

The institute’s report examined what it said were 73 “coercive PRC actions” recorded between 2020 and 2022, of which 21 were taken against Australia, 11 actions against Lithuania, and eight against Taiwan. Forty per cent of these actions were trade restrictions.

Europe was the most targeted by region, it said, with 35 actions taken or 47% of cases.

“The dominance of these tactics reflects the PRC’s abuse of its global trading power and its exploitation of state-controlled media and ‘wolf-warrior diplomacy’,” it said.

China’s embassy in Australia did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on the ASPI report.

The Albanese government, elected in May, has sought to stabilise relations with Beijing and said it wants to resume exports to China that were hit by “trade blockages” imposed by Beijing during a years-long diplomatic dispute.

Australia has, however, not changed its policy on China.

On Tuesday the former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the nation’s foreign interference laws introduced in 2018 were designed to expose China’s activities, but were not working.

Australia’s spy chief said in a speech the nation was experiencing unprecedented levels of foreign interference.

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation’s (ASIO) director general of security, Mike Burgess, criticised business people, academics and bureaucrats in Australia who he said had urged the intelligence agency to “ease up” to “avoid upsetting foreign regimes”.

Albanese said on Wednesday that ASIO had his government’s support “in all of their actions”.

(Reporting by Kirsty Needham; Editing by Sonali Paul)