Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Beijing will lift its trade ban on Australia as it looks for a way out of the failure of its trade sanctions.
Australia-China relations hit a low point in May 2020 when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) retaliated against tens of billions of dollars worth of Australian exports, including coal, lobster, barley, and wine. Ministerial contacts were also severed by the CCP after the former Morrison administration called for an independent investigation into the origin of COVID-19.
Turnbull said Beijing was holding back because its sanctions weren’t working.
“It was designed to get Australia to knuckle down,” he said. “It was completely counterproductive. The Australian Government didn’t change. The opposition [Labor] supported the government [the Coalition]… Public opinion moved very considerably against the government of China.”
“I would expect these trade sanctions to be lifted. They haven’t worked,” he added. “It’s cost the wine industry, made no difference to barley… really made no difference to coal at all. Coal prices are at an all-time high.”
Beijing Looking to ‘Dismount’
The former Liberal Prime Minister noted that the CCP has clearly “taken a wrong approach” and will look for a chance to “dismount.”“I thought at the time, at some point, they will seek to dismount from this because they’ve clearly taken a wrong approach,” he said. “I’ve had a couple of experiences of this happening in the past, so then they look for an exit ramp, and sometimes you can help provide an exit ramp.”
Turnbull said the change of federal government in May last year provided Beijing with such an opportunity.
“The temperature has dramatically reduced, and more cordial normal intercourse is happening, and I would expect these trade sanctions to be lifted,” he said.
Farrell was invited to visit Beijing in the “near future.”
“Our discussion covered a range of trade and investment issues, including the need for resumption of unimpeded trade for Australian exporters so that Chinese consumers can continue to benefit from high-quality Australian products,” he said in a statement.
‘Bully Always Wants Once More’
Turnbull stressed that it was vital that Australia not submit to the communist regime’s trade bullying.“Chinese economic coercion is always thoroughly instrumental,” he said. “It’s designed to do one thing, which is to get other countries or people or companies to knuckle under and do as they’re told and not do things that displease the Communist Party in Beijing.”
“The only thing that will guarantee you get more bullying is by giving in to bullies. That applies whether you’re [a] little boy or girl in the playground at school, or whether you’re running a country because the bully always wants once more.”
