Australia on Wednesday announced it would cancel a state government’s deal to join China’s Belt and Road Initiative, saying it was inconsistent with the nation’s foreign policy.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Wednesday the federal government would override the Victorian state government’s decision to sign up to the Belt and Road Initiative, a vast network of investments that critics say is cover for Beijing creating geopolitical and financial leverage.
Payne said two documents signed in 2018 and 2019 respectively, a memorandum of understanding and framework agreement were among four she would tear up under the new powers. “I consider these four arrangements to be inconsistent with Australia’s foreign policy or adverse to our foreign relations,” she said in a statement.
The announcement comes at a time of deteriorating relations between Beijing and Canberra, with the two governments at loggerheads over trade and competing for influence in the Pacific.
Canberra has already taken steps to limit China’s influence in Australia, by banning controversial telecom giant Huawei from building Australia’s 5G network and tightening foreign investment laws for cooperations.
