The Chinese tried their hardest to make the Australians pay for their gals to initiate an enquiry to understand where the Wuhan virus originated. Beijing wanted to set an example for all nations so that nobody would ever attempt to go against its interests again. However, the latest trade numbers from Australia show that Chinese attempts at blockading and punishing Canberra have not been a success.
The Chinese had just upped the ante and started a sort of trade war with Australia. In a matter of days, Beijing stopped the import of many goods and raw materials from Australia and it looked like Canberra is up for some tough winters. However, even after all the bans and furore, no substantial damage is visible as per the Australian trade numbers. Now, as the imports which were kept out intentionally by the Chinese are finding customers in India; Beijing is now regretting taking these harsh measures against Australia.
As per the data released, the Australian economy rebounded by a more than expected 3.3 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter, which portrays a very different picture as what the Chinese would want others and themselves to believe. This has made Beijing ask some tough questions and make hard introspections. China’s thoughts and trials of demolishing the Australian economy by utilizing its trade deficit as a weapon to demolish Aussie moral now seem to be unfruitful.
Read more: How China actually drove Australia to desperation first and flourishment later.
Australia has been very vocal in its support for a free and fair international investigation into the origin of the virus. China then went ahead with two-pronged counters to what it considered Australian overreach. One, it let loose Beijing’s vicious wolf warrior diplomats who spared no time to start hammering on Australian counterparts and secondly, by banning exports from Australia such as that of coal, iron ore, and barley among many others as well as raised tariffs on Australian wine exponentially. But Australia bounced as China drove it to desperation, and found its feet among its allies such as India and Japan to effectively counter Chinese embargos and turn its economy around in a pandemic effectively negating the losses inflicted upon it.
It is often said that never intimidate someone to an extent, from where they are no more fearful. This is exactly what China did to the Aussies and the government in Canberra also followed suit. As has been reported by TFI, the Japan and Indian allies of Australia have come in support of it at the right time. While the Trade War which China initiated may have had a great impact, the support of India and Japan made it a lot less painful. India provided the much-needed consumer market and Japan provided the required investment, as a whole it was able to create a more convenient environment for Australian exports.
For the whole last decades, China kept Australia in its claws just because it was Canberra’s largest trading partner and there were no other options available. This time, China got played by India, as with the Australians out of Beijing’s trade shackles, it has now been able to sustain itself by gaining Indian market and in this case, it does not need to sell its sovereignty. Thus, in such a tense environment, India was able to make use of one wrong step by the Chinese and bring Australia to its fold forever.