The Abbott Government’s pugnacious foreign policy has reaped its first dividend in Beijing:
The Abbott government’s plan to sign a free trade agreement with China by September has been dealt a blow after Beijing failed to mention it as a priority for the year ahead.
Commerce Ministry spokesman Shen Danyang said on Tuesday the government was focused on signing a three-way trade agreement with Japan and South Korea, a standalone deal with South Korea and another regional pact.
“This year we will give priority to free-trade negotiations with neighbouring countries,” Mr Shen said at the Ministry’s monthly press conference, making no mention of Australia.
The Commerce Ministry has previously been very positive on an FTA with Australia and pledged to “quicken” negotiations and “strive for the same goal as Australia” last November.
But over the following weeks relations deteriorated sharply when Australia strongly criticised Beijing’s creation of air defence zone covering disputed territory in the East China Sea. A researcher at a think tank affiliated with the Commerce Ministry, Mei Xingyu, said an FTA between Australia and China was unlikely this year.
“If China was positive on reaching an agreement this year the spokesman would have mentioned it,” he said.
Mr Mei said obstacles included the Australian government being too close to the US and clumsy in its policy towards China. “They have created too many unexpected problems,” he said.
One hopes Mr Abbott will see discretion as the better part of valour and walk away rather than sell the farm to meet political goals.
