S Jaishankar takes aim at China's trade coercion against Australia

Trade ties with China, Australia's largest trading partner, had nosedived since early 2020 when PM Scott Morrison's government called an independent investigation into the origins of the coronavirus

India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar criticized China’s economic coercion of Australia in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, saying progress and prosperity over the past 80 years was the result of a trading system “governed by rules and not politically influenced.”

Trade ties with China, Australia’s largest trading partner, had nosedived since early 2020 when Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government called an independent investigation into the origins of the coronavirus. Beijing retaliated with trade restrictions, including high tariffs on Australian barley and wine and slowing coal shipments.

When asked by the paper whether Beijing’s actions toward Canberra constituted economic