On Australia, I think the PRC has just about run out of things they can do without scoring major own goals. The NDRC announcement was symbolic, since there has not been any ministerial level meetings between Cn and Oz for a couple years now, if memory serves me. I reckon it was mostly to pander to nationalist sentiment and to be seen to be beating down on those pesky Aussies. They have knocked Oz wine. And that will upset some of rich Chinese urbanites. They have blocked coal, which is a bit of an own goal for a few reasons: several major Oz mines are Chinese owned (eg, Yancoal operations); landing Australian coal at East China ports whether thermal or coking is often cheaper than transporting it from Shanxi or Inner Mongolia, with lower greenhouse gas emissions; and Australian coal is lower in sulphur compared with Chinese, so "cleaner" and less polluting, which is a health bonus for north China. Now, some have suggested China could curb imports of iron ore. That won't happen anytime soon. It would be such a massive own goal. China needs 5-10 years to try to extricate itself from Oz iron ore. At least. Part of the reason is the ownership stake it has in iron mines in Australia (the PRC investment in the Mt Channar Mine in 1986 was for many years the largest overseas FDI of China). Another is technological, courtesy of Japan's aid in the late 1970s. Baoshan Steel received a new smelter line from Japan at the time, but since most of Japan's iron ore came from Australia the line was designed to use Australian ore. There was an attempt to enrich the lower grade Cn ore via pellatization, but that made little economic sense, hence the Mt Channar interest. The Mt Channar JV was renewed for a third time only a few years ago, so it has a long way to run ... leaving aside the many other questions of the price and quality of the ore, and the technology of the steel mills. What can the PRC do? Well, they could do something like what they did with Canada: find a few Aussies to lock up. There are already a couple of China-born Australians held in detention. So, I reckon the MSS probably has a hunting list of potential target academics, business people or others. It is one reason I left last August after my most recent stint of living there.