Pacific Stalemate: China Refuses to Back Down on ‘Beyond Reproach’ Trade Sanctions

An employee works as Australian-made wine (on display shelves on right) at a store in Beijing on Aug. 18, 2020, the same day that the Chinese regime ramped up tensions with Australia after it launched a probe into wine imports from the country, the latest salvo in an increasingly bitter row after the Australian government called for an probe into the origins of COVID-19. Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images

Australian and Chinese diplomatic relations appear to have stalled after the Australian government continued to remain stalwart in the face of Beijing’s refusal to back down on punitive trade sanctions imposed on Australia which, the Chinese regime called “beyond reproach.”

Speaking at a press conference on June 22, the spokesperson for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Wang Weibin said that Beijing’s measures were taken with a “view to protect the legitimate rights.”