Australia Prepared to Pay Price in Dispute With China, Trade Minister Says
- Trade minister wrote to China counterpart in January, no reply
- Says cyber attack criticism important as a collective response
Dan Tehan
Photographer: Sam Mooy/Getty Images
This article is for subscribers only.
Australia is prepared to take the economic hit from China’s trade measures in order to defend its sovereignty, Trade Minister Dan Tehan said, even as he pursues efforts to open dialogue with counterparts in Beijing.
“If we have to pay an economic price for that, that’s something that we’re prepared to pay,” Tehan said in an interview in Washington, where he’s meeting with the Biden administration to try to work out how to counter China’s actions. “In the end our values are so important to us and we think that they’re something that we have to protect above all else.”