'If China wants to play hard ball, Australia can too,' says George Christensen

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/12/17
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As diplomatic and trade tensions boil over between China and Australia, Liberal National MP George Christensen called on his government to seriously consider officially recognizing Taiwan.

Since Australia began to issue calls in April for an investigation into the origins of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak in China, relations between the communist country and Australia have rapidly deteriorated. Beijing's authorities this year have imposed tariffs on Australian barley, banned certain beef slaughterhouses, expanded bans and tariffs to red wine and timber, and recently suspended coal imports.

On Tuesday (Dec. 15), Sky News cited Christensen as saying that as China attempts to send a strong message to countries around the world to fall in line with its agenda, it has turned Australia into a "guinea pig." Christensen claimed that “China is giving us a big shake in order to spook other countries from doing things which China might not be happy with including domestic laws that they’re not happy with."

He called on countries in the free world to join together and stand up to China. The lawmaker then accused Beijing of using trade to meddle with domestic politics in other countries.    [FULL  STORY]