Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


US Shows Unity in Support of Australia as Canberra Takes On Beijing

Natalie Liu

   WASHINGTON - The incoming U.S. administration of President-elect Joe
   Biden is signaling its support for Australia in that nation's
   increasingly bitter wine war with China.

   "The Australian people have made great sacrifices to protect freedom
   and democracy around the world," said Jake Sullivan, Biden's nominee
   for the post of national security adviser, in a recent tweet.

   "As we have for a century, America will stand shoulder to shoulder with
   our ally Australia and rally fellow democracies to advance our shared
   security, prosperity, and values."

     The Australian people have made great sacrifices to protect freedom
     and democracy around the world. As we have for a century, America
     will stand shoulder to shoulder with our ally Australia and rally
     fellow democracies to advance our shared security, prosperity, and
     values.
     -- Jake Sullivan (@jakejsullivan) [1]December 2, 2020

   That message has received more than 5,000 "likes," many from Australia,
   which has been suffering from a series of punitive trade measures from
   Beijing -- including tariffs of up to 200% on Australian wine -- since
   it called for an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus in
   China.

   "Fantastic to hear the support for us in Aust.," said one Twitter
   follower in response to Sullivan's tweet. "However it's more than words
   we need. As we have stood shoulder to shoulder with the US on previous
   occasions in various conflicts. What is happening is a new kind of war
   and we need allies to #punishchina the same as it [is] doing to us."

     Fantastic to hear the support for us in Aust. However its more than
     words we need As we have stood shoulder to shoulder with the us on
     previous occasions in various conflicts
     What is happening is a new kind of war and we need allies to
     [2]#punishchina the same as it doing to us.
     -- @wearebabyboomers and @grubans_graffiti (@AuKeats) [3]December 3,
     2020

   The outgoing administration of President Donald Trump is also showing
   its support for the besieged Australian winemakers. A message from the
   National Security Council noted this week that "Australian wine will be
   featured at a White House holiday reception this week. Pity vino lovers
   in China who, due to Beijing's coercive tariffs on Aussie vintners,
   will miss out."

     Australian wine will be featured at a White House holiday reception
     this week. Pity vino lovers in China who, due to Beijing's coercive
     tariffs on Aussie vintners, will miss out.
     [4]#AussieAussieAussieOiOiOi!
     -- NSC (@WHNSC) [5]December 1, 2020

   China skeptics from London to Tokyo are also developing a taste for
   Australian wine as part of a campaign launched by a British foreign
   affairs commentator and taken up by an international coalition of
   legislators known as the [6]Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on
   China(IPAC).

   In a video message, lawmakers from Italy, Japan, Sweden, Britain,
   Germany, Slovakia andthe United States, among others, urged worldwide
   supporters to purchase and drink "a bottle or two of Australian wine,
   and let the Chinese Communist Party know that we will not be bullied."

     [7]#SolidaritywithAustralia
     ð·ð¦ðº [8]pic.twitter.com/u3ksj9v4YD
     -- Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (@ipacglobal) [9]December
     1, 2020

   Sullivan issued his message of support for Australia the day after IPAC
   launched its multilateral campaign.

   Biden has emphasized on numerous occasions that his administration
   places a high premium on alliance-building and will work to fashion
   joint responses to challenges posed by Beijing.

   Kurt Campbell, a former senior Democratic administration official in
   charge of Asia-Pacific affairs, recently expressed the hope that the
   Biden team will work to reverse the impression that American policy
   lacks continuity because of the regular changes of leadership.

   "The challenge oftentimes in American policies is that successive
   governments tend to think that the practices of previous governments
   should all be thrown out, should be put in the ash heap of history and
   completely reinvent everything," said Campbell, who served as assistant
   secretary of state for East Asian and [10]Pacific affairs from 2009 to
   2013.

   Speaking to a gathering hosted by Policy Exchange, a London-based think
   tank, Campbell credited the Trump administration for some of its
   foreign policy initiatives. While acknowledging that many European
   nations have disliked Trump's policies, he said, "there are many in
   Asia that have some attraction to elements of the Trump approach to
   Asia."

References

   1. https://twitter.com/jakejsullivan/status/1334173397035741189?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   2. https://twitter.com/hashtag/punishchina?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   3. https://twitter.com/AuKeats/status/1334322887428173831?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   4. https://twitter.com/hashtag/AussieAussieAussieOiOiOi?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   5. https://twitter.com/WHNSC/status/1333597644162215936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   6. https://www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacific/social-media-strikes-back-against-chinas-anti-dumping-measures-australian-wine
   7. https://twitter.com/hashtag/SolidaritywithAustralia?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   8. https://t.co/u3ksj9v4YD
   9. https://twitter.com/ipacglobal/status/1333668013283926016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
  10. https://policyexchange.org.uk/pxevents/the-future-of-the-indo-pacific/

.