China American Cold War

The Australia/China relationship is sliding at astonishing speed towards outright strategic competition.

As it were, it is going off.

Via News: Queensland Police have launched an investigation into a top Chinese diplomat for allegedly inciting violent threats against an Australian university student.

Has Peter Navarro went off-reservation?

This is an important piece not because it says anything we don’t already know but because it is by FMG and Chinese junket queen, Jennifer Hewitt.

Via The Wire comes Steve Bannon: Q.

China’s wolf wanker warrior diplomats may be a pack of arseholes.

Via Sinocism: I think I have been overly optimistic about the trajectory of US-China relations.

Via the AFR: The Morrison government will encourage barley producers to diversify their markets more than they are already doing in anticipation Beijing will carry out its threat to impose tariffs of 80 per cent on imports from Australia.

Via SCMP: Top trade negotiators from the United States and China spoke by phone on Friday and vowed to continue to support the phase one trade deal, Chinese state media reported, in their first contact since the agreement was signed in January.

Via Nerd has Power: What is the true origin of the Wuhan coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2, 2019nCoV, the CCP virus)?

Via Sinocism: The PRC will be back to work Wednesday after the five day May Day holiday.

Via the excellent Damien Boey at Credit Suisse: US-China tensions escalate.

At Domain comes a generous Twiggy: Big business has swooped in on high-stakes political negotiations with China, parachuting in one of China’s top diplomats to speak at a Commonwealth office event as relationships between Canberra and Beijing deteriorate.

It’s pretty pathetic.

Yeh, I’m not kidding.

Perhaps we should.

Yawn, at the AFR: Beijing’s ambassador has warned the Morrison government that its pursuit of an independent inquiry into the coronavirus pandemic could spark a Chinese consumer boycott of students and tourists visiting Australia, as well as sales of popular agricultural exports like beef and wine.

Not that we are post-COVID yet.

Via Daily Mail: A leading Russian microbiologist has claimed the coronavirus is the result of Wuhan scientists doing ‘absolutely crazy things’ in their laboratory.

Via The Australian: China’s embassy in Australia has taken aim at Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton’s call for the communist nation to show more transparency over the coronavirus pandemic.

Via Sinocism: Yesterday’s call between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Director of the Office of Foreign Affairs of the Communist Party of China Yang Jiechi clearly went even worse than thought.