Australia has been a member of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, which is widely viewed as an attempt to counter China's influence in the Asia–Pacific.
The change came after Australian Senator Sam Dastyari, who was relatively sympathetic to China's view of its territorial disputes, accepted payments from Chinese donors, leading to his resignation.
[2] In 2018, Australia banned Chinese telecommunications companies Huawei and ZTE from providing 5G technology for new networks, citing security concerns.
[7] In early 2020, Prime Minister Scott Morrison endorsed an inquiry into the origins of COVID-19, which angered China.
They also included coal, but not iron ore.[10][11] However, facing international pressure, China agreed in May 2020 to allow a World Health Organization investigation of the origins of COVID-19, which took place in 2021.
Throughout 2020, China continued to place barriers to Australian trade, including unofficial guidelines to Chinese importers as well as other non-tariff measures such as customs procedures.
However, due to surging fossil fuel prices and a weaker Australian dollar, Australia's overall resources sector earned more revenue in 2021 than in any previous year.
[27] In April 2021 Cheng Yingye, the Chinese ambassador to Australia, held a press conference at his residence where senior Chinese officials and Uyghur people from Xinjiang appeared virtually to denounce claims of Uyghur genocide, calling them "Western lies" and vowing a "response" by China.
Due to a lack of progress, Australia requested a World Trade Organization panel to determine whether the tariffs were illegal, which was established in October.
The Australian government welcomed the decision, crediting the WTO for its role, and expressed hope that the wine tariffs could be resolved similarly.
[36] In October, China agreed to a 5-month review of its wine tariffs, ahead of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's visit to Beijing.