The daily escalation between the trading partners includes Australia announcing a new inquiry into Chinese interference at Australian universities,blocking takeover bids of Australian companies and Chinese telco giant Huawei withdrawing NRL sponsorship in the past week. In China,authorities have hit wine and barley with further trade strikes and detained Australian journalist Cheng on unknown charges.
China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Australia had been"infected with fear,conjecture and paranoia"and defended Beijing against claims of foreign interference."We hope Australia will adopt a constructive China policy instead of a destructive one,"she said.
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Australian officials are still to be notified of the claims against Cheng,a high-profile business anchor on Chinese state media network CGTN who was privately critical of the Chinese Communist Party on Facebook. She is being held in an undisclosed location,without guaranteed access to legal aid. Cheng can be held there for six months without charge under China's opaque judicial system.
"China is a country of rule of law,"Hua said on Tuesday night."I don’t have any specific information[about Cheng]."No update had been provided to Australian officials as of Wednesday afternoon.
Despite a largely bipartisan approach to foreign policy on China,some MPs in Canberra are growing increasingly concerned about the long-term economic effects of the deteriorating relationship.