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Sino-Australia relations have experienced a rapid deterioration in the past half-decade. From genial ties centred around trade and exchange, the relationship has descended into mutual hostility, prompting the editor of China's Global Times to notoriously liken Australia to a blob of gum on the bottom of a shoe. To explain the deteriorating relationship, scholars have proposed numerous ideas, pointing to factors as wide-ranging as 'Chinese influence', poor diplomacy efforts, and ontological (in)security touched off by neoliberal governmentality. The current paper examines these ideas in a literature review, then synthesises such ideas to provide its own explanation of why things 'went wrong'. It also addresses corollary questions such as why Australia adopted a uniquely assertive China policy, and why this occurred specifically around 2017. We argue that the breakdown in relations can be attributed to the rise of nationalist, sovereignty-oriented movements in the West, and the spillover effect this had on Australian leadership; the profound uncertainty attending the election of Trump and his isolationist tendencies; and the shift to a more rigid, authoritarian approach to foreign affairs under Xi. This perspective adds to the literature by identifying failings on both sides while underscoring significant yet underappreciated global trends, such as nationalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia is a long-term key partner of China in coal trading, which is famous for high-quality coal and its price advantage. However, affected by the evolution of international political and economic situation, China has issued a coal ban on Australian coal since the end of 2020. The potential environmental consequences of this coal ban remain unclear. So, this paper quantifies the ban's impact on air pollution, human health and climate change by simulating the emission difference between the port scenario (simulating the emissions due to Australian coal import under business as usual) and the mine scenario (simulating the emissions due to domestic coal mining that converted from import share of Australian coal), and monetizes the losses into economic costs for direct comparison. The results illustrate the emission of SO 2 , VOCs and GHG in mine scenario grows up to 102, 12 and 6 times the amount of that in port scenario, mainly deriving from coal mining process in the North China Plain and Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. It shows that the potential alternative of replacing import with mining leads to PM 2.5 pollution exacerbation and O 3 pollution abatement, which causes 148 (95 % CI: 101–183) non-communicable diseases and respiratory disease-related deaths in total. As for GHG, the emission of BC in transportation process and fugitive methane in coal mining process contribute to an impressive effect on warming potential with few quantities, which is worth noting in control process. In total, the environmental deterioration resulted in an economic loss of approximately 934 million yuan. The undiminished demand for high-quality industrial coal as well as growing carbon tax could make the economic value of the coal ban's environmental consequences more considerable in the near future. This research emphasizes the contradiction between economic development and environmental improvement caused by excessive dependence on coal and addresses a critical knowledge gap in assessing the ban's environmental impact by economic value. The result directly demonstrates the environmental consequences of the potential mining-replacing-import alternative and helps better understand environmental influences on the Chinese government's decision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]