Canberra going further on the wrong track

It has been reported that the Australian federal government will pressure the State of Victoria to cancel its cooperation program with China's Jiangsu province.

Although it was said to be on the list of programs that the Department of Foreign Affairs had identified as potentially contrary to Australia's national interest, the bid to scrap the Victoria-Jiangsu Program for Technology and Innovation R&D, which was agreed in 2015, is obviously intended as an act of revenge by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison for China's probes into imports from Australia.

To the disappointment of those who have been hoping for a turnaround in relations, the Australian government is still heading down the road of no return for bilateral relations.