A New Piece of Equipment in Zambia Will “Help China Get Rid of Its Over-Reliance of Imported Australian Iron Ores”

An article in today’s Global Times newspaper, one of China’s more bombastic nationalist tabloids, provides a glimpse into how determined Chinese officials are to “decouple” their trade with Australia, especially in the hugely valuable iron sector.

Sino-Australian relations deteriorated sharply in 2020 over disputes related to the origin of COVID-19, the South China Sea, and Huawei. Now, Beijing appears determined to use Australia’s dependence on the Chinese market as a weapon to retaliate against Canberra for what it sees are malign attacks.

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by Eric Olander

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