China urged Australia on Tuesday to face the crux of the setback in bilateral ties and stop hyping up the so-called theory of China coercion out of political self-interest.
In a speech on Monday, Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg claimed that China's combination of economic power and global connections "poses new and significant challenges for many countries", and "Australia is facing this pressure more sharply than most other countries".
The current difficulties in China-Australia relations have been created unilaterally by Australia, Chinese Foreign Ministry Wang Wenbin said, urging Australia to abandon its Cold War mentality and ideological bias, respect basic facts and objectively and rationally view China's development
He said that Australian businesses should adopt a "China-plus" strategy to diversify their markets instead of overly relying on one country.
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Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a daily news conference that Australia has benefited greatly from cooperation with China, and China has never done anything to undermine Australia's sovereignty.
In a spirit of openness, inclusiveness and mutual benefit, China is committed to building an open world economy and sharing development opportunities with other countries, Wang said.
He noted that Australia has violated market principles and used bullying to restrict normal exchanges and cooperation between the two countries, which disturbed the good momentum of bilateral cooperation.
On the other hand, he added, Australia claims to be a victim, and at the same time gangs up with some countries to put pressure on China.
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Such moves violate international law and the basic norms of international relations, as well as interfere in China's internal affairs and core interests, he said.
The current difficulties in China-Australia relations have been created unilaterally by Australia, Wang said, urging Australia to abandon its Cold War mentality and ideological bias, respect basic facts and objectively and rationally view China's development.
zhoujin@chinadaily.com.cn