Australia yesterday pilloried China’s failure to denounce the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as Beijing’s “unacceptable” decision to ease restrictions on a key Russian export in the face of Western sanctions.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the world must unite to condemn Russia, voicing particular concern “at the lack of a strong response from China.”
Beijing on Thursday announced that it would import more Russian wheat, in stark contrast to Western countries rolling out sanctions on the Kremlin and its allies.
Photo: AP
“You don’t go to throw a lifeline to Russia in the middle of a period when they are invading another country. That is simply unacceptable,” Morrison said.
UN data shows that Russia produces about one-quarter of the world’s wheat, a trade worth billions of US dollars a year.
Ukraine produces a further 10 percent of world supply, and there are concerns that war and sanctions would strangle production, and fuel already high food prices globally.
China previously only allowed wheat imports from a handful of areas in Russia, citing disease concerns.
The deal announced by the Chinese General Administration of Customs, which was reportedly agreed when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Beijing earlier this month, allows for imports from more regions.
China has urged dialogue and expressed sympathy for what it calls the Kremlin’s “reasonable” security concerns around Ukraine. Western powers have denounced Putin’s actions wholesale — sanctioning banks, oligarchs and Russian government officials.
India — a major purchaser of Russian weapons — has so far also refrained from condemning Moscow’s actions, but Morrison did not mention New Delhi.
Relations between China and Australia are at their lowest in a generation.
The two sides have engaged in rhetorical tit-for-tat denunciations, and Beijing has placed extensive trade sanctions on Australian goods — although Australian wheat has so far avoided the chopping block.
Morrison has put China and national security firmly at the center of his campaign for re-election in a vote expected in May.
Morrison trails in the polls to the opposition center-left Labor Party, led by former Australian deputy prime minister Anthony Albanese.
Separately, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that sanctions have never been an effective way to solve problems, but would create problems for the countries and regions concerned.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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