I own a springer spaniel called Molly, she is small and gentle and knows never to pick a fight with a bigger dog as she was on the losing end of an altercation a few years back.
The Australian government has an economy that is largely dependent on exports to China, not just minerals, but also foodstuffs.
Trump has a phase one trade deal signed sealed, and soon to be delivered. Mudslinging and blame games over the origin of Covid-19 are as much a political staring gun for Trump’s electoral campaign as they anything else.
China is the world’s second largest economy, and in part largely reliant on the U.S. consumer. For this reason, when Trump slings mud, they sling it back, then make concessions. Call it Blueberry politics. China and the U.S can sling mud a much as they like; however, the reality is that they need each other. Both dogs are big, a fight is unlikely to happen.
Australia is Molly, (you can see where this is heading) but also likes to sling mud at China. Australia has announced that it wants an enquiry into the origins and spread of Coronavirus which has not gone down well with China’s new assertive diplomacy.
China is not going to pick a fight with the U.S, and they still want Australian Iron ore. It is fair to say that Australia’s mining industry is safe, but that will not stop them getting a nasty nip for their disobedience.
China is committed to supporting the U.S agricultural sector by purchasing billions of dollars of U.S raw materials and products and Australia is looking like it is about to be the fall guy.
For China this is a win-win situation, it meets their obligations with the U.S. whilst slinging the occasional bit of mud back. Meanwhile it punishes Australia by not purchasing agricultural products, without causing any real harm to the Chinese economy.
I am sure that the moral of this story is, make sure you are factually correct before slinging mud, rather than collecting facts after the event. If you want to be politically incorrect there is a second moral here, always pick a fight you can win!
Edward Hutton