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An extraordinary diplomatic dispute between Australia and China over the COVID-19 outbreak has laid bare the fragility of our relationship with the emerging superpower, with a testy phone call this week pushing relations to a low ebb.
On Monday, China's ambassador to Australia Cheng Jingye spoke with Frances Adamson, the Secretary of Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
Adamson was protesting what Australian Government Ministers believe was a thinly-veiled threat of economic coercion — the ambassador's warning that Canberra's push for an independent inquiry into the COVID-19 outbreak could spark a "consumer boycott" of Australian goods in China.
China sees the inquiry as a political witch hunt, orchestrated by the US and designed to humiliate Beijing. So DFAT would not have been surprised by Cheng Jingye's dismissive response on the phone call, with the ambassador "flatly rejecting" Australia's objections.
But diplomatic officials would have been shocked the very next day, when the Chinese Embassy revealed details of the conversation on its website.
The tone was almost mocking.
The embassy said Adamson "tried her best" to defend the proposed review, but also "admitted it is not the time to commence the review now" and said Australia had "no details" to put forward.
Leaking details of a private phone call might not sound like a big deal. But in the genteel and rule-bound world of foreign affairs, it's the equivalent of lobbing a small hand grenade.
Relations at a low ebb
Without trust, diplomacy quickly breaks down. Officials need to believe that private conversations will stay private in order to speak to each other frankly.
And trust between China and Australia has now all but evaporated.
Some long-term Beijing watchers believe the relationship is now at its lowest ebb since diplomatic ties were established in 1972.
The purpose of the leak was clear: Beijing wants to do everything it can to undermine the Morrison Government's push for an independent investigation into the COVID outbreak, both internationally and here in Australia.
By saying Adamson had "no details" to propose and casting doubt on Australia's time-line for action, the Embassy was trying to portray the investigation as a half-baked thought bubble; a political manoeuvre rather than a serious proposal.
But this is misleading, because at this stage all Australia is trying to do is build international support for an independent investigation into the outbreak of COVID-19.
There is no "detailed" proposal yet because the calls for an investigation are still in their infancy.
Australia responds with a touch of acid
Fundamentally, the leak from the Chinese Embassy is a bit of diplomatic theatre — a signal of China's anger and contempt. It was intended to intimidate, not to persuade.
DFAT's response was restrained — but it had a touch of acid to it.
Australia expressed "regret" that the Embassy had breached protocol, and said it would maintain the "highest standards of professionalism", instead of contesting the Ambassador's account.
Politicians were less guarded.
Former diplomat and current Liberal MP Dave Sharma took to social media to scold the Chinese Ambassador for a "clear and intended breach of diplomatic protocol."
"Releasing the contents of a private exchange and attributing remarks to the other party without seeking their agreement or consent. Not the sort of behaviour Australia would ever engage in," he said.
And for now, the Morrison Government believes that China's threats of economic coercion are hollow.
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said Australians "would be quite amazed and incredibly disappointed if that was the direction of the Chinese Government".
Attorney-General Christian Porter went further, calling China's response "irrational".
"I think that the Chinese Ambassador's response was largely emotional and generally speaking those type of emotional responses are relatively short-lived," he told Perth radio station 6PR.
On Wednesday morning, the dispute descended into near farce, with the Chinese Embassy releasing yet another statement, accusing Australian officials of being the first to leak details of the phone call, and saying it was responding in kind to "petty tricks."
The Prime Minister is betting that in a few months this furious diplomatic spat will look like little more than white noise, and that Australia's push for an inquiry will prevail because it's backed by the force of overwhelming logic.
"This is a virus which has taken 200,000 lives across the world. It has shut down the global economy," Scott Morrison told reporters earlier today.
"I think that is a fairly obvious and common sense suggestion."
But of course, "common sense" is endlessly contested, and as Beijing's influence grows, the superpower is increasingly able to dictate its definition.
Australia's push for an inquiry will be an important test of its limits.
