stephen: scott waldron has also lived and researched extensively in china. 's trade claims. scott: the trade barriers that china imposed on australia in 2020 are cases of economic coercion. and the intent is for china to change australian policy, including on issues of the south china sea, hong kong, xinjiang, huawei, and foreign interference. stephen: on his reading, the trade sanctions flowed from demands by china's communist party for retaliation against any perceived threats or criticism of china. scott: xi jinping has instructed china to resolutely defend ainst any internal or external threat to the communist party, and so that so-called "battle stance" has become embedded within the party, within the ministry of foreign affairs, and its wolf warrior diplomacy, and down into economic units, including the ministry of commerce, the state administrations of customsnd quarantine. so, if you're a mid-level official in one of those economic departments, your incentive, the way that you get ahead, is to appeal to that spirit. jane: economic coercion is a very d