As all eyes were on the United States presidential election in recent weeks, Beijing was aiming its trade arrows at Canberra. Australian timber, coal, wine and beef exporters were being threatened with new Chinese barriers erected to prevent the sale of their goods.

The reason? To hit back at the Australian government's statements on Chinese government actions in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, the banning of Huawei from Australia's 5G network, Canberra's call for an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus, as well as accusations about Chinese Communist Party interference in Australian politics.