Ex-Australian PM Morrison to testify before US House panel on China

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By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison will testify at a U.S. House panel hearing on Wednesday about countering China’s “economic coercion against democracies,” the committee said on Friday.

Former U.S. ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel will also testify before the House Select Committee on China.

Relations with China, already rocky after Australia banned Huawei from its 5G broadband network in 2018, cooled further after Canberra called for an independent investigation into the origins of COVID-19.

China responded by imposing tariffs on Australian commodities, including wine and barley and limited imports of Australian beef, coal and grapes, moves described by the United States as “economic coercion.”

Morrison was defeated in a bid for reelection in 2022.

Reuters reported this week Canberra is close to an agreement with Beijing that would allow Australian suppliers to ship five trial canola cargoes to China, sources familiar with the matter said, a move towards ending a years-long freeze in the trade. China imposed 100% tariffs on Canadian canola meal and oil this year amid strained diplomatic ties.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited China this week, underscoring a warming of ties.

Emanuel, who told a Chicago news outlet last month he is considering a run for president in 2028, has been a harsh critic of China, saying last year Beijing constantly uses coercion and pressures other countries, including Japan and the Philippines.

“Economic coercion by China is their most persistent and pernicious tool in their toolbox,” Emanuel said in a separate speech in 2023.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately comment.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Writing by Ismail ShakilEditing by Marguerita Choy)