https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/belt-and-road-veto-won-t-reset-anything-andrews-20201206-p56kyrFull credit to both federal parties. Dictator Andrews has simply lost the plot if he thinks the best way to handle the debt he created is to continue to give all the power to the Chinese.
Belt and Road veto 'won't reset anything': Andrews
Victorian Labor Premier Daniel Andrews is on his own when it comes to defending his Belt and Road infrastructure deal with Beijing, after federal Labor reaffirmed it never supported the arrangement and indicated it should be dumped.
Mr Andrews, who warned on Sunday that tearing up the BRI would further sour relations with Beijing, could soon become the next centrepiece in the brawl with China after Parliament, as early as Monday, passes the Foreign Relations Bill.
Penny Wong says federal Labor does not support Daniel Andrews' BRI MoU with Beijing. Dominic Lorrimer
The bill will enable the Foreign Minster to veto existing and future agreements between a foreign power and a state or local government, or a university.
Among the 130 existing contracts, memorandums of understanding and co-operative arrangements that will come under immediate consideration, 48 are with China. At, or near, the top of the list is the five-year MoU Mr Andrews signed with China in 2018.
Chinese-government funded study centres such as the Confucius Institute, which operates in 13 Australian universities, are also in the firing line.
Given the volatility between Canberra and Beijing at the moment, sources say it is unlikely the government will move quickly to veto any arrangements with China, especially Mr Andrews' BRI deal. China has already indicated through its media mouthpiece the Global Times that such a move would further exacerbate tensions.
On Sunday, shadow foreign affairs minister Penny Wong reaffirmed Labor never supported the BRI deal and she suggested it be negotiated away "sensible and calmly''.
"We have said we would not sign up to the BRI. We have made clear our position on that. Our position is different from that of the Victorian Labor government,'' Senator Wong told the ABC's Insiders program.
She said the Morrison government "should try and resolve this in a way that respects engagement with the state government and that recognises that China will observe how this is handled carefully".
"I don't think it has been good to have the Prime Minister and others engaging in a public argument about this."
Privately, Mr Morrison and national security officials have warned Mr Andrews that if he engages in joint infrastructure and other business ventures under BRI, he will be "owned' by Beijing.
Mr Andrews, who had a private conversation with Mr Morrison last week about the BRI, was defensive on Sunday.
He agreed the Australia-China relationship was in bad shape and in desperate need of a reset but tearing up the BRI would not "be resetting anything".
He said ultimate responsibility lay with the federal government.
"This bill was not just about Chinese agreements, it's a broader thing and it is a matter for the federal Parliament to determine whether that's what they want to do or not,'' he said.
Mr Andrews, whose state has a forecast $155 billion net debt, has argued he needs the revenue the BRI deals would create for Victoria.
The relationship with China exploded last week when the Chinese Foreign Ministry tweeted a doctored image of an Australian soldier slitting the throat of a child.
It was a reference to an alleged war crime perpetrated by the SAS in Afghanistan but so enraged Mr Morrison that he issued an immediate denunciation and demanded an apology.
At the same time, Labor accused the government of mismanaging the relations, resulting in accusations it was playing politics with the national interest.
Senator Wong rejected this, saying it was a simple statement of fact that the relationship had broken down under the Coalition's watch.
"In many ways the more important point is, 'what is the strategy?','' she said.
