Australia to implement phased reopening as diplomatic strains with China lingers

The Australian government has announced details of a three-phased reopening plan to unwind the lockdown and revive the country’s ailing economy amidst a diplomatic rift with its major trading partner, China.

According to officials, by next month, the government plans to re-open its universities to international students and open up its tourist regions in the Southern Coast which was previously plagued by a fire disaster before the pandemic.

New South Wales, the country’s most populous city, would be allowed to resume recreational travels and vacation from next month as well.

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Australia’s economy will re-open amidst diplomatic strains with China over its demands for a global probe into the origins of the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Although China on Tuesday joined 130 other countries as a co-sponsor in a WHO independent review on the pandemic, it last week slapped ban on some major Australian meat exporters, citing “labelling breaches” and this week, placed hefty anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tariffs on Australian barley.

Responding to attacks from Beijing suggesting that the country’s demands for a probe was a “political manoeuvring”, Canberra said it wanted to learn the lessons of the pandemic so that the world could prevent a repeat.

“We would be disappointed if there was any process of conflating these issues,” Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio.

A further span on the disagreement could affect Australian universities where Chinese students account for 40% of the population.

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