Amid a recent uptick in Sino-Australian tensions, China is continuing to raise the price of Australia's confrontational diplomatic stance, including Canberra's sustained support of a U.S.-led international push to investigate Beijing's role in the COVID-19 pandemic. On June 19, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that his country had been targeted by a sustained and wide-ranging cyberattack on government institutions, public services and businesses. Unnamed top officials said the Chinese government is the primary suspect. 

• The Australian Cyber Security Centre said the June 19 cyberattack was relatively simple and preventable with routine security measures, but that the wide-ranging and sustained nature of the attack suggested a state actor.
• Leaks indicate that Australian intelligence offices concluded in March that China's Ministry of State Security was also responsible for a February 2019 cyberattack on Australia's parliament and top political parties ahead of key May elections.
• Former Australian officials said that they believed the cyberattacks are part of a broader Chinese cyber campaign that began following Australia's 2018 decision to ban Huawei from its 5G networks.

Australia, however, has shown no signs that it intends to back off from its confrontational stance, despite China's continued economic threats and retaliatory actions in recent months. On June 11, Morrison said his government would not be intimidated by Beijing's "coercion" tactics, signaling his political resolve to maintain Australia's current scrutiny of Beijing's involvement in the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as Hong Kong's political crisis.  

• In late April, Australia and other U.S. allies began pushing for an international investigation against China over the origins and handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 29, Australia also signed a joint statement opposing Beijing's controversial move to impose a new national security law in Hong Kong. 
• On May 10, Beijing imposed heavy tariffs on Australia's barley exports, essentially halting 11 percent of the country's agricultural exports to China. China has also warned of consumer boycotts of Australian wine and beef, and has threatened to halt some imports from key Australian slaughterhouses citing compliance issues. Several Chinese power plants have reportedly stopped importing Australian coal as well. 
• On June 9, China's Ministry of Education issued an official warning to Chinese students to beware of discrimination in Australia. This followed a similar June 6 warning to Chinese tourists. 
• On June 16, Chinese courts issued a death penalty sentence for an Australian national arrested for drug smuggling in 2013. 

To limit China's economic leverage going forward, Australia will continue to try to diversify its economic links beyond China, although it has limited options. Morrison also recently announced plans to diversify Australia's economic relationship by forging commercial ties with its fellow members of the "Five Eyes" intelligence alliance, which include Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.

But Australia's continued scrutiny of China's international affairs will leave its political and economic institutions vulnerable to future cyberattacks. While it seems there was no immediate trigger for this attack, the mounting crises along China's periphery, including that with India and in Hong Kong, could be compelling Beijing to respond in the hopes of forcing U.S. allies to back off on their pressure campaign. And cyberattacks offer a low-cost, low-risk way to achieve that end without causing sparking a larger crisis and leave room for some plausible deniability.