After Australia’s Foreign Minister Marise Payne canceled the Victorian state government’s memorandum of understanding to participate in China’s Belt and Road global infrastructure initiative a fortnight ago, she said she didn’t expect retaliation from Beijing. That was always a hopeful message for a domestic audience. Yesterday the Chinese government “indefinitely suspended all activities” with Australia under a framework called the China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue. China’s foreign ministry also warned Australia “not to walk further on the wrong path”. The Chinese embassy had warned Payne’s “unreasonable ... (full story)