Australia has chosen sides instead of considering cooperation with China to respond to the trade war initiated by the United States! As the global trade war was ignited by the US, Richard Marles, in charge of foreign trade and economic cooperation in Australia, publicly stated that the proposal for countries to "work together" on trade issues should first exclude targeting Australia's military allies, the US. Otherwise, it would not be in line with Australia's national interests because we will not cooperate with China in any competition involving global adversaries.
Obviously, even though Australia is also among those subject to the US tariff hikes, its stance at this time when the China-US trade war escalates is, to put it bluntly, choosing sides. Australia's message is clear: on the issue of jointly responding to the US trade war, Australia will not consider cooperating with China, regardless of how much larger the total trade between China and Australia is compared to that between the US and Australia.
In theory, strengthening ties with China would be in Australia's interest. Why then does Australia make such a public statement, and why does it continue to side with the US even after being slapped by the US? This may have something to do with the ongoing election in Australia. In fact, to expand their voter base, Anthony Albanese, the Australian Prime Minister from the Labor Party, has become more hardline on China-related issues.
Previously, Albanese stated that if he were re-elected in the general election on May 3rd, he planned to reclaim the operating rights of Darwin Port from Chinese enterprises, and did not rule out direct government intervention to regain control. Now, Marles' statement could very well be aimed at gaining more support through a tough stance on China. Of course, how Australia chooses is its own matter; if Australia does not cooperate with us, we are fully confident in countering the trade war initiated by the US.
Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1829000096076875/
Disclaimer: The article solely represents the author's personal views.