Dan's dilemma: The China deal Premier Andrews can't back out of
<p><span>Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has hit a roadblock after the relationship between Australia and China plunged to a new low this week.</span><br /><br /><span>In his press conference on Wednesday, he didn’t hesitate to slam the graphic fake image that depicted an Australian soldier slitting a child’s throat.</span><br /><br /><span>He said that image was “just beyond the pale”.</span><br /><br /><span>“It’s wrong. I condemn it,” he said.</span><br /><br /><span>“I would hope the rhetoric, the commentary, social media posts, comes to an end.”</span></p>
<p><span>However, although the relationship is souring between Canberra and Beijing, the Victorian premier is being forced to re-examine a controversial deal he made with China back in 2018.</span><br /><br /><span>The Belt and Road agreement has been heavily criticised by Mr Andrews’ since he made it and on Wednesday, he was asked by reporters if he would be turning his back on.</span><br /><br /><span>However, he states he still has intentions of working with them.</span><br /><br /><span>“This relationship is far too important to farmers, to manufacturers, to workers, to profits for Victorian companies and therefore prosperity for our state,” Mr Andrews said.</span><br /><br /><span>“This is not just our biggest customer, but it is all about jobs. We need a good relationship but it has to be a fair and respectful one.”</span><br /><br /><span>He called on the federal government and China to “refocus on trying to repair” their relationship.</span><br /><br /><span>“I’m confident that the commonwealth government knows and understands how important this relationship is. I’m certain of that, and that’s why, as challenging as this is, people have to find a way to work through it,” he said.</span><br /><br /><span>Danny Pearson, who works beneath Mr Andrews and played a key role in the Belt and Road negotiations refused to state his opinion on the feud between Australia and China.</span><br /><br /><span>He said he has “no responsibilities for those matters”.</span><br /><br /><span>Mr Andrews said he wouldn’t “waste my time” when asked if he was going to counsel Mr Pearson for his comment.</span><br /><br /><span>“I don’t think I’d waste my time. That’s a trivial matter, with the greatest of respect,” he said.</span><br /><br /><span>“I haven’t seen his comments, I’ve just given you some pretty frank and clear answers, you’ve invited me to go a bit further, I haven’t, and I don’t necessarily think I’m going to spend every day before you guys interpreting every word that comes out of every other minister’s mouth, that’s not, I think, where we’ve got to.”</span><br /><br /><span>In 2018, Mr Andrews signed a “memorandum of understanding” with China on belt and road initiatives.</span><br /><br /><span>He said the agreement was aimed at big state infrastructure investment.</span><br /><br /><span>The deal shows China may be looking to build partnerships with Victoria on biotechnology, agriculture, food, cosmetics, and other industries, however a solid plan is yet to be put forward.</span><br /><br /><span>The agreement is not legally-binding, but Victoria seems intent on not walking away.</span></p>
