Even though the bilateral ties between Australia and China have been restored, however, China has continued with its coercive policies
Beijing: The appointment of Xi Jinpingโs for the third term as Chinaโs president indicates that Beijingโs coercive policies in global politics would continue as such policies are at the core of Xiโs global agenda, Geo Politica reported.
It can be determined from the fact that China continues to practice military and economic coercion even though COVID-19 disrupted conventional ways of politics and necessitated cooperation among nations. As per the report, โChinese coercionโ has enhanced its intensity and reach. The report has called Taiwan and countries in the South China Sea and the East China Sea the โvictims of Chinaโs egregious behaviour.โ
Chinaโs โcoercive policiesโ have extended to Australia, Sri Lanka, some European nations, and Pakistan during Xiโs tenure. Two years back, the bilateral ties between Australia and China was โrobustโ and Australia was being viewed as closer to China in comparison to the United States. However, Australia became biggest target of Chinese economic coercion for requesting an inquiry into the origin of COVID-19, as per the Geo Politica report.
Even though the bilateral ties between Australia and China have been restored, however, China has continued with its coercive policies. The International policy think tank Lowy Institute said that coercion will increase in the near future as โChinaโs economy becomes less resource intensive.โ Calling it a โpunitive action,โ the report said that China has imposed a ban on imports of Australian goods and is set to stop using iron ore by diversifying its supplies.
According to the Geo Politica report, China is making use of โmonopolyโ in rare earth metals as a โweaponโ against its rivals and an โinstrument of domination.โ Beijing has stopped its supply to Japan and threatened to use similar measures with the US and Australia.
China holds 30 per cent of known reservoirs of rare critical earth metals and it is the largest supplier with a share of 70 to 88 per cent in global production. These rare metals are utilised in modern industry as they are important for various goals, including the production of iPhones, EV batteries, and COVID testing kits.
Emily de La Bruyere, a China expert with the think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said that Beijing was using rare earth metals as a โstrategic input in global power contests,โ as per the Geo Politica report. She noted that Chinese sources discuss taking advantage of rare earth dominance against the US for coercive ends. She added that Chinaโs restrictions with respect to supplies to China indicated Beijingโs โpredatory and non-market economic behaviourโ as it intended to continue its dominance.
According to the Geo Politica report, US Ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel said that the world realised how China made use of coercion for economic, military and political advantage. Japan and Australia have agreed to a security pact to resist Chinaโs โeconomic coercion and disinformation.โ China has even suspended group tours to South Korea.
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The report said that China has tried to use coercion for any reason that fits as per its interests. Beijing imposed a ban on salmon fish from Norway after Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo was awarded Nobel Peace Prize. Chinaโs โcoercive politicsโ in the Indian Ocean region has โhurt the interest and sovereigntyโ of friendly nations like Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Many European nations became victims of Chinaโs โeconomic coercionโ after they extended support to Taiwanโs democracy and independence. China tried to restrict imports from these nations after they extended support to Taiwan. Experts have claimed that China could take โunconventional and unprecedentedโ measures as it continues to use โeconomic coercionโ in the future.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by HW News staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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