Beijing has slapped a 200 percent tax on Australian wine as tensions rise between the two nations. Australia has drawn the wrath of Beijing by calling for an international investigation into China’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan. A strain in relations has also been amplified by China detaining Australian journalist Cheng Lei without charge.
Canberra has also attacked China’s expansionist ambitions in the South China Sea that has seen Australia sign a mutual defence agreement with Japan, a traditional rival to Beijing.
All of the contentions between both sides has led Beijing to place extremely hight tariffs on Australian beef, coal, barley, seafood, sugar, timber, and now wine.
Beijing implemented the new taxes on wine on Friday.
China’s ministry of commerce imposed the most recent import taxes to come into effect on Saturday.
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The new tariff on wine will see a 212.1 percent tax on wine imports from Australia.
China is Australia’s biggest export market for wine.
Australia’s trade minister said the new measures from Beijing had made Australian wine unsellable in China.
Beijing is using its lucrative market as leverage in order to extract political concessions and increase its strategic global influence.
Beijing has been angered by the recent mutual defence agreement between Australia and Japan that will allow each nation to use each other’s territory in live drills.
The landmark agreement came as a response to China’s construction of military facilities on islands in the South China Sea.
The South China Sea is one of the world’s busiest shipping thoroughfares and it also contains lucrative resources under the seabed.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman has now tasked Australia to “do something conducive” to improve relations between the two nations.
The firebrand foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said: “Some people in Australia adhering to the Cold War mentality and ideological prejudice have repeatedly taken wrong words and deeds on issues concerning China’s core interests.
“Australia should take China’s concerns seriously, instead of harming China’s national interests under the banner of safeguarding their own national interests.”