Foreign minister downplays China trade tensions

Foreign Minister Marise Payne has hit back at accusations she is allowing Liberal backbenchers to dictate the direction of relationships with China. Liberal senators have taken aim at China’s handling of the coronavirus and pushed the government to not allow itself to be coerced by China. Tensions have risen after China threatened economic sanctions on Australia if the government did not drop its push for a probe into the origins of the virus, threatening to impose significant tariffs on Australian barley exports and blacklisting four Australian abattoirs. Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said he was not yet able to secure a meeting with his Chinese counterpart to discuss the situation. Ms Payne stated the move to suspend Australian exports to China was not a political matter, as the issue of the coronavirus remained separate from trade relations.