China-Australia relations: ‘smearing China’ will backfire for trade partners, Beijing warns

China says it will not do business with countries that undermine it, while analysts say that any “trade alliances” to neutralise China’s trade actions will not work in a free global market.

Responding to a request for comment by the state-owned China News Service, which pointed to some analysts saying Canberra “should not blindly follow the US”, China’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that countries which unjustly attack China would suffer the consequences, without elaborating.