CHINA-AUSTRALIA: AUSTRALIAN HIGH COMMISSIONER IN LONDON CALLS FOR ENHANCED TIES

In an Op-Ed published by London’s Daily Telegraph, George Brandis, Australia’s High Commissioner in London and former senior Australian government minister, offered sharp observations on the significance of the dispute between Canberra and Beijing that intensified over the course of 2020 and saw China restrict a raft of Australian exports. He also called for deeper engagement with "trusted partners". Without directly naming China, Brandis wrote: “In 2020, we made clear that our sovereignty, institutions and political systems were not for sale and our independence non-negotiable. To borrow from the late Lady Thatcher: Australia was not for turning.” He added “In an interconnected world, it became easy to forget that many of our most critical goods came via supply chains over which we had little to no sovereign control. That must change.” The comments are a toughening of Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s repeated declarations that Australia would not “trade away” its values or bow to economic pressure from China.





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