Australia approves tough new veto powers over foreign agreements amid China row
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Splash
    • Videos
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Wednesday
August 10, 2022

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Splash
    • Videos
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2022
Australia approves tough new veto powers over foreign agreements amid China row

World+Biz

Reuters
08 December, 2020, 04:40 pm
Last modified: 08 December, 2020, 04:45 pm

Related News

  • Australia's central bank hikes rates, says policy not on pre-set path
  • Aboriginal MP blasts 'colonising' queen in oath of office
  • M Allama Siddiki becomes new High Commissioner of Bangladesh to Australia
  • Australia PM unveils draft Indigenous recognition referendum question
  • Australia makes monkeypox a disease of national significance

Australia approves tough new veto powers over foreign agreements amid China row

The law allows the Commonwealth to block any agreement between Australian states, councils or institutions and a foreign government, such as a controversial 2018 deal between the state of Victoria and China

Reuters
08 December, 2020, 04:40 pm
Last modified: 08 December, 2020, 04:45 pm
FILE PHOTO: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison arrives at Haneda airport in Tokyo, Japan, November 17, 2020. REUTERS/Issei Kato
FILE PHOTO: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison arrives at Haneda airport in Tokyo, Japan, November 17, 2020. REUTERS/Issei Kato

Australia's parliament on Thursday passed legislation giving the federal government power to veto any agreement struck with foreign states, a move likely to anger China and intensify a bitter diplomatic spat between the two countries.

The law allows the Commonwealth to block any agreement between Australian states, councils or institutions and a foreign government, such as a controversial 2018 deal between the state of Victoria and China.

"Australia's policies and plans, the rules that we make for our country are made here in Australia according to our needs and our interests," Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters in Canberra.

Morrison has stressed the law is not aimed at any country but it is widely seen by analysts as directed at China.

"It creates another trigger for the relationship to deteriorate," said Melissa Conley Tyler, research fellow at the Asia Institute of the University of Melbourne.

Under the terms of the new law, the foreign minister can veto any agreements with foreign governments if they "adversely affect Australia's foreign relations" or are "inconsistent with Australian foreign policy".

One deal expected to come under the spotlight is Victoria's participation in China's Belt and Road Initiative, which Morrison said weakens the federal government's ability to control foreign policy.

Morrison declined to comment on whether that arrangement would be vetoed.

Relations between Australia and China, its largest trading partner, have soured since Morrison called for an independent international investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic earlier this year.

Beijing has also take umbrage at Canberra's blocking of a recent agricultural deal, its barring of Chinese tech giant Huawei from its 5G network and legislation outlawing foreign interference in Australia's domestic politics.

China has blocked billions of dollars worth of Australian exports from lobsters to wine in recent months, all the while refusing to accept phone calls from Australian ministers.

Ties soured further this week when a senior Chinese official posted a fake image of an Australian soldier holding a knife with blood on it to the throat of an Afghan child, prompting Morrison to demand an apology from Beijing.

Australian universities earn billions of dollars in tuition fees from Chinese students but some of their agreements with state-backed Chinese institutions may now come under closer scrutiny.

Last year Australia's New South Wales state scrapped a Chinese-funded language programme in schools amid fears over foreign influence.

($1 = 1.3492 Australian dollars)

Top News

australia

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Brioche rolls exit an oven at the Brioche Pasquier factory in Milton Keynes, UK.Photographer: Ryan Peters/Brioche Pasquier
    The great European energy crisis is now coming for your food
  • Photo: Collected
    Bangladesh's export to grow with 98% duty-free market access: China
  • Photo: Bloomberg
    Bangladesh-Iraq trade grows four-fold

MOST VIEWED

  • The receiver station of the Druzhba oil pipeline between Hungary and Russia is seen at the Hungarian MOL Group's Danube Refinery in Szazhalombatta, Hungary, May 18, 2022. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo/File Photo
    Ukraine halted oil flows to Europe over payment issue, Russia's Transneft says
  • Obstacles to overcome before Ukraine grain deal eases global food crisis
    Obstacles to overcome before Ukraine grain deal eases global food crisis
  • A view of the flags of Finland, NATO and Sweden during a ceremony to mark Sweden's and Finland's application for membership in Brussels, Belgium, May 18, 2022. REUTERS/Johanna Geron/Pool
    Biden to sign documents backing Sweden, Finland for NATO
  • US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi talks with Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu before boarding a plane at Taipei Songshan Airport in Taipei, Taiwan August 3, 2022. Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Handout via REUTERS
    Pelosi says US cannot allow China to isolate Taiwan
  • A sign is pictured at the entrance of Klarna's headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden on May 25, 2022. REUTERS/Supantha Mukherjee
    Dreaded 'down rounds' shave billions off startup valuations
  • US President Joe Biden signs the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 alongside Vice President Kamala Harris and House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi. on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, US, August 9, 2022. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
    Biden signs bill to boost US chips, compete with China

Related News

  • Australia's central bank hikes rates, says policy not on pre-set path
  • Aboriginal MP blasts 'colonising' queen in oath of office
  • M Allama Siddiki becomes new High Commissioner of Bangladesh to Australia
  • Australia PM unveils draft Indigenous recognition referendum question
  • Australia makes monkeypox a disease of national significance

Features

The elevated ground is made out of soil on which grass and trees have grown. This grass-covered elevated ground extends to the perimeter of the establishment. Photo: Maruf Raihan

Aman Mosque: Where form and function complement each other

15h | Habitat
Photo: BSS

Begum Fazilatunnessa Mujib . . . woman of moral power

1d | Thoughts
Will Glass Cosmetics be your next skincare holy grail?

Will Glass Cosmetics be your next skincare holy grail?

1d | Brands
Akij Tableware: More than just dishes on a table

Akij Tableware: More than just dishes on a table

1d | Brands

More Videos from TBS

Why Donald Trump buried ex-wife Ivana at a golf course

Why Donald Trump buried ex-wife Ivana at a golf course

5h | Videos
In absence of groom, his brother stands by the bride

In absence of groom, his brother stands by the bride

8h | Videos
Tajia procession of Muharram

Tajia procession of Muharram

8h | Videos
Importance of Ashura in Islam

Importance of Ashura in Islam

10h | Videos

Most Read

1
Dollar crisis: BB orders removal of 6 banks’ treasury chiefs 
Banking

Dollar crisis: BB orders removal of 6 banks’ treasury chiefs 

2
Diesel price hiked by Tk34 per litre, Octane by Tk46
Energy

Diesel price hiked by Tk34 per litre, Octane by Tk46

3
Housing projects sprouting up by Dhaka-Mawa expressway
Real Estate

Housing projects sprouting up by Dhaka-Mawa expressway

4
Infographic: TBS
Banking

Dollar rate will be left to market after two months: Governor

5
Photo: Collected
Transport

Will Tokyo’s traffic model solve Dhaka’s gridlocks?

6
Bangladesh to resume talks for Ukrainian wheat import
Economy

Bangladesh to resume talks for Ukrainian wheat import

EMAIL US
[email protected]
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2022
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - [email protected]

For advertisement- [email protected]