Australia snubs China’s call to unite against Trump’s tariffs
‘I don’t think we’ll be holding China’s hand,’ Defence Minister Richard Marles says, adding Canberra wants to diversify its trade
Ambassador Xiao Qian urged Australia and other trading partners to “jointly respond to the changes of the world” in an opinion piece written for a Sydney newspaper.
“Under the new circumstances, China stands ready to join hands with Australia,” Xiao wrote for The Sydney Morning Herald.
But Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles was quick to pour cold water on notions of Canberra and Beijing uniting in “common cause”.
“We’re not about to make common cause with China, that’s not what’s going to happen here,” Marles told Australia’s Nine News.
“I don’t think we’ll be holding China’s hand.
“We don’t want to see a trade war between America and China, to be clear, but our focus is on actually diversifying our trade.”