China Reacts To Australia's Cancellations Of Victoria State-China Deals On Belt And Road Initiative
April 29, 2021 | By Heath Sloane*
Introduction
On April 21, 2021, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne announced that Canberra had revoked two major accords between the Australian State of Victoria and China, effectively terminating Australia's limited participation in China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).[1]
In a press release, Payne pointed to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Government of Victoria and China's National Development and Reform Commission on Cooperation within the "Framework of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative," signed October 8, 2018. He also noted the Framework Agreement" between the Government of Victoria and China's National Development and Reform Commission of the People's Republic of China on "Jointly Promoting the Framework of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road," signed a year later, on October 23, 2019.[2]