Beijing denounces Marles over ‘China threat’ as Farrell is welcomed to Shanghai

Beijing condemned Richard Marles for stoking anti-China sentiment while inviting Don Farrell to Shanghai, as the US pressures Australia to reduce economic ties with its largest trading partner.

From left: Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, and Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles. Pictures: Geoffrey van der Hasselt/AFP; VCG/Getty Images; Yong Teck Lim/Getty Images

You can now listen to The Australian's articles. Give us your feedback.

You can now listen to The Australian's articles.

Beijing has denounced Defence Minister Richard Marles for spreading the “China threat” while inviting Trade Minister Don Farrell to visit Shanghai in November, as Canberra comes under pressure from Washington to ramp up its defence budget and reduce its economic ties with China.

Late on Tuesday, China’s Foreign Ministry condemned the US, Japan, Australia and the Philippines after the four American allies met on the sidelines of a security conference in Singapore and discussed shared concerns about Beijing’s use of force and coercion in the East China Sea and the South China Sea.

“The US, together with Japan, Australia, and the Philippines, brazenly spread the false accusation of (the) ‘China threat’ at the Shangri-La Dialogue and sought to use the East China Sea issue and the South China Sea issue to sow discord and incite confrontation between regional countries. China strongly deplores and firmly opposes it, and has made serious protests,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a press conference in Beijing.

“Bloc politics and confrontation will not solve any problem, still less intimidate China. We will not flinch in defending China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.”

Hours later, in Paris, Senator Farrell was feted by his Chinese counterpart, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, who urged Canberra to “jointly safeguard the multilateral trading system” with Beijing.

Australia’s Trade Minister Don Farrell meets his Chinese counterpart, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, on the sidelines of the OECD.

Senator Farrell accepted an invitation from the Chinese Commerce Minister to attend the China International Import Expo in Shanghai in November, according to a Chinese government readout of the meeting, which was held on the sidelines of the OECD. It will be the third consecutive year the Australian Trade Minister has attended the trade show, the most politically important in China.

This year’s trade show will be the first Senator Farrell will attend since Beijing ended all of the trade restrictions it had previously imposed on Australia.

In a dramatic reversal after their four years in China’s crosshairs, Australian farmers are benefiting at the expense of their American counterparts, who have been targeted by Beijing during its trade tussle with the Trump administration. Restrictions on American beef exports to China have given Australian farmers a near-monopoly of the country’s almost $5bn premium beef market.

Senator Farrell has explicitly distanced the Albanese government from the agenda of the Trump administration, which has tried to pressure allies and partners to reduce their economic relations with China.

“China is our largest trading partner,” Senator Farrell said recently. “We don’t want to do less business with China, we want to do more business with China.”

Trade Minister Don Farrell during his trip to Shanghai in 2024. Picture: Will Glasgow

The duelling statements from the Chinese government come as Washington strong-arms Canberra to hike its defence budget to 3.5 per cent of GDP.

Beijing has not yet commented on the American pressure on Canberra, but senior researchers at government-linked institutions have given insight into the Chinese government’s thinking.

“You have to walk on a tightrope. Your future is deeply embedded in this region, which is the centre of gravity for economic prosperity,” Zhou Bo, a retired senior col­onel in the People’s Liberation Army, told The Australian this week.

Mr Zhou, a senior fellow at Tsinghua Univer­sity’s Centre for International Security and Strategy in Beijing, said Australia needed to be careful it did not follow the US into a conflict with the PLA in contested areas around China.

“Is it necessary for you to follow the US to challenge China? If you do not go to China, there’s no way China would come to Australia to fight against you,” he said. “This is a moment for Australia to do some soul-searching.”