))
Join Larry Mantle weekdays for lively and in-depth discussions of Los Angeles and Southern California news, politics, science, entertainment, the arts and more. More AirTalk at www.kpcc.org.
Steve Price: China and Australia's trade war intensifies
Manage episode 262222041 series 2098285
By NZME and Newstalk ZB. Discovered by Player FM and our community — copyright is owned by the publisher, not Player FM, and audio is streamed directly from their servers. Hit the Subscribe button to track updates in Player FM, or paste the feed URL into other podcast apps.
The Chinese government’s growing trade war with Canberra has stoked fear in Australian industries this past week.
Dairy producers have held emergency meetings with the Federal Government amid fears they could be targeted next, while wine producers have flagged they are also concerned.
But there’s another vital area the Chinese government has hinted at targeting: tourism and international student travel.
Australia first barred entry to foreign nationals travelling from mainland China on February 1 in a bid to stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
The incoming travel ban was gradually extended to several countries that became virus hot spots, before borders were shut to all non-residents from March 21.
Australia’s tourism industry, already struggling after the bushfire disaster during key summer months, has paid a heavy price for the border bans, with some analysts estimating it is costing the sector as much as $2 billion a month.
‘THE TOURISTS MAY HAVE SECOND THOUGHTS’
A few weeks ago Cheng Jingye, the Chinese Ambassador to Australia, threatened that Chinese tourists – including students – may boycott coming to Australia, in what would be a massive blow to our economy.
Asked by the Australian Financial Review whether China would stop importing our commodities if we continued to pursue the COVID-19 inquiry, he said “tourists may have second thoughts”.
“The Chinese public is frustrated, dismayed and disappointed with what you are doing now,” Mr Cheng said. “In the long term, for example, I think if the mood is going from bad to worse, people would think why we should go to such a country while it's not so friendly to China. The tourists may have second thoughts.”
He went on to hint that university students – who contribute billions of dollars to our economy – might also boycott the country.
“Maybe the parents of the students would also think whether this place, which they find is not so friendly, even hostile, is the best place to send their kids to.
“So it's up to the public, the people to decide. And also, maybe the ordinary people will think why they should drink Australian wine or eat Australian beef. Why couldn't we do it differently?”
When pressed directly on whether this would mean a boycott of Australia, he said: “I don't know. I hope not. But if the mood is bad or even worse, I don't think it's helpful to everyone and as I said, I hope that the Australian side will do more positive things, which would serve the interests of both sides.”
JUST HOW MUCH DOES AUSTRALIA RELY ON CHINESE VISITORS?
Australia’s tourism industry is facing growing pressure to diversify to decrease its reliance on the Chinese market.
China is now Australia’s largest source of international visitors. According to Tourism Australia, there were 1.44 million Chinese visitors to Australia in the 12 months to November 2019.
Chinese travellers contributed roughly $12 billion to the Australian economy in that period – or 27 per cent of the total amount spent by all tourists.
Data also shows they contribute more to the Australian economy on an individual basis. The average spend per Chinese trip was $A9,235. This compared with $5,219 for Americans, $4,614 for Japanese and $2,032 for New Zealanders.
This is largely due to the number of Chinese students who study at Australian universities. Around 20 per cent of Chinese tourists visit for educational purposes.
These students spend an average of $27,000 in the space of about four months, contributing more than $10 billion to our economy.
Executive Director at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute Peter Jennings told news.com.au we’ve allowed our economy to become too reliant on the one-party state.
“What’s clearly emerging now is that China does not behave like capitalist economies,” he said. “We hoped it would behave like one when it went into the World Trade Organisation, but at its heart, we’ve got a one-party state that is prepared to use economic connections for political purposes.
“We’v...
Dairy producers have held emergency meetings with the Federal Government amid fears they could be targeted next, while wine producers have flagged they are also concerned.
But there’s another vital area the Chinese government has hinted at targeting: tourism and international student travel.
Australia first barred entry to foreign nationals travelling from mainland China on February 1 in a bid to stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
The incoming travel ban was gradually extended to several countries that became virus hot spots, before borders were shut to all non-residents from March 21.
Australia’s tourism industry, already struggling after the bushfire disaster during key summer months, has paid a heavy price for the border bans, with some analysts estimating it is costing the sector as much as $2 billion a month.
‘THE TOURISTS MAY HAVE SECOND THOUGHTS’
A few weeks ago Cheng Jingye, the Chinese Ambassador to Australia, threatened that Chinese tourists – including students – may boycott coming to Australia, in what would be a massive blow to our economy.
Asked by the Australian Financial Review whether China would stop importing our commodities if we continued to pursue the COVID-19 inquiry, he said “tourists may have second thoughts”.
“The Chinese public is frustrated, dismayed and disappointed with what you are doing now,” Mr Cheng said. “In the long term, for example, I think if the mood is going from bad to worse, people would think why we should go to such a country while it's not so friendly to China. The tourists may have second thoughts.”
He went on to hint that university students – who contribute billions of dollars to our economy – might also boycott the country.
“Maybe the parents of the students would also think whether this place, which they find is not so friendly, even hostile, is the best place to send their kids to.
“So it's up to the public, the people to decide. And also, maybe the ordinary people will think why they should drink Australian wine or eat Australian beef. Why couldn't we do it differently?”
When pressed directly on whether this would mean a boycott of Australia, he said: “I don't know. I hope not. But if the mood is bad or even worse, I don't think it's helpful to everyone and as I said, I hope that the Australian side will do more positive things, which would serve the interests of both sides.”
JUST HOW MUCH DOES AUSTRALIA RELY ON CHINESE VISITORS?
Australia’s tourism industry is facing growing pressure to diversify to decrease its reliance on the Chinese market.
China is now Australia’s largest source of international visitors. According to Tourism Australia, there were 1.44 million Chinese visitors to Australia in the 12 months to November 2019.
Chinese travellers contributed roughly $12 billion to the Australian economy in that period – or 27 per cent of the total amount spent by all tourists.
Data also shows they contribute more to the Australian economy on an individual basis. The average spend per Chinese trip was $A9,235. This compared with $5,219 for Americans, $4,614 for Japanese and $2,032 for New Zealanders.
This is largely due to the number of Chinese students who study at Australian universities. Around 20 per cent of Chinese tourists visit for educational purposes.
These students spend an average of $27,000 in the space of about four months, contributing more than $10 billion to our economy.
Executive Director at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute Peter Jennings told news.com.au we’ve allowed our economy to become too reliant on the one-party state.
“What’s clearly emerging now is that China does not behave like capitalist economies,” he said. “We hoped it would behave like one when it went into the World Trade Organisation, but at its heart, we’ve got a one-party state that is prepared to use economic connections for political purposes.
“We’v...
4717 episodes
