Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australians would "speak for ourselves" on global trade.

Australia has swiftly turned down China’s offer to “join hands” against Donald Trump’s tariffs, as Washington escalates its trade war with Beijing.

The White House recently imposed an import tax of 10% on Australian goods, but for China - Australia’s biggest trading partner - raised tariffs to 125%.

China’s ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian argued joint resistance is “the only way” to stop the “hegemonic and bullying behaviour of the US”, appealing for Canberra’s cooperation in an opinion piece on Thursday.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, however, said Australians would “speak for ourselves”, while the country’s defence minister said the nation would not be “holding China’s hand”.

  • namingthingsiseasy@programming.devEnglish
    154·
    5 days ago

    Smart decision. China has already made clear attempts to coerce Australia, not just economically1, but militarily as well 2, 3.

    As grim as foreign relations look with the USA, it would be foolish to immediately run to China instead, because they clearly do not intend to have a symmetric relationship with any of their partners either.