SYDNEY (AUSTRALIA) – The parliament of Australia passed a legislation on Thursday allowing the federal government to veto any pact struck with foreign countries. This move is likely to raise the hackles of China and add fuel to the diplomatic row between the two countries.
As per the new law, the Commonwealth country can block any deal between Australian states, councils or institutions with a foreign nation, including the controversial deal between Victoria state and China in 2018.
“Australia’s policies and plans, the rules that we make for our country are made here in Australia according to our needs and our interests,” said Prime Minister Scott Morrison in the capital, Canberra.
He said the new law is not aimed at any country although analysts feel it is directed at China.
“It creates another trigger for the relationship to deteriorate,” said Melissa Conley Tyler, research fellow at the Asia Institute of the University of Melbourne.
As per the new law, the foreign minister can veto any pact with foreign governments if they are found to be “adversely affecting Australia’s foreign relations” or are “inconsistent with Australian foreign policy”.
One such deal that is likely to come under scrutiny is Victoria’s participation in China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, which the prime minister said would destabilise the federal government’s ability to control foreign policy.
The ties between the country and China, its largest trading partner, have waned since Morrison called for an independent probe into the origins of the pandemic earlier this year.
Beijing has also been incensed at Canberra’s blocking of a recent agricultural agreement, its barring of tech giant Huawei from its 5G network and legislation preventing foreign interference in the nation’s domestic politics.
In recent months, China has blocked billions of dollars worth of Australian exports ranging from lobsters and beef to wine and has refused to accept phone calls from Australian ministers.
Their ties were soured further this week after a senior Chinese official posted a fake picture of an Australian soldier holding a knife with blood on it to the throat of an Afghan child, prompting the prime minister to seek an apology from Beijing.