Australia rebuffed China’s appeal to “join hands” to defend trade on Thursday, as Beijing looks for partners to help it blunt US tariffs now ratcheted up to 125 per cent.
Ambassador Xiao Qian urged Australia and other trading partners to “jointly respond to the changes of the world” in an opinion piece written for a Sydney newspaper.
“Under the new circumstances, China stands ready to join hands with Australia,” Xiao wrote for The Sydney Morning Herald.
But Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles was quick to pour cold water on notions of Canberra and Beijing uniting in “common cause”.
“We’re not about to make common cause with China, that’s not what’s going to happen here,” Marles told Australia’s Nine News.
“I don’t think we’ll be holding China’s hand.