Via The Global Times, China Communist Party mouthpiece:
Over the past week, observers at this end of the Pacific have been overwhelmed and transfixed by the political drama unfolding in Canberra. Astounded to see two successive leadership spills within one week which brought in the 30th prime minister of Australia, Scott Morrison, people here in China were in fact still recovering from the disappointment and shock left by Malcolm Turnbull’s administration to block Huawei from Australia’s 5G wireless network infrastructure project. Turnbull has now exited through Canberra’s ever revolving doors, but his legacy is ineffaceable, since it set a new precedent of antagonism toward China – even the US government hasn’t imposed an official ban on a Chinese telecommunications provider.
The announcement of the ban against Huawei and ZTE was made on Thursday by Morrison, the then acting minister of home affairs, who is now Australia’s new prime minister. Morrison is on record having banned a couple of Chinese investment and purchase initiatives over the years on so-called security and protectionist grounds.
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