(REUTERS): China’s government has announced it is indefinitely suspending all activities under the China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue, the latest in a growing diplomatic rift between both countries.
In a statement issued today (Thursday), China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) accused Australia of unfairly targeting China. The commission did not say in the statement what specific measures prompted the action.
“Recently, some Australian Commonwealth Government officials launched a series of measures to disrupt the normal exchanges and cooperation between China and Australia out of Cold War mindset and ideological discrimination,” the commission said.
The Australian dollar fell sharply on the news, and was as low as 0.7701 to the U.S. dollar from Wednesday’s $0.7747. Meanwhile, Australia’s trade minister, Dan Tehan, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on China’s decision.
Bilateral ties were strained in 2018 when Australia became the first country to publicly ban Chinese tech giant Huawei from its 5G network. Relations worsened last year when Australia called for an independent investigation into the origins of the novel coronavirus, prompting trade reprisals from China.
The last meeting under the mechanism, intended as a framework for economic cooperation, was in Beijing in 2017, when Australia’s trade minister signed an agreement on cooperation. Australia has, however, declined to sign agreements on direct participation in China’s flagship foreign policy initiative.
