Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne has taken aim at Beijing’s efforts to “buy influence” and “pick off” individual countries just prior to meeting with democratic world leaders at the upcoming G7 Plus meeting in Europe and with leaders in the United States. Payne spoke in glowing terms about her visit to London, Geneva, and Washington D.C., where issues such as COVID-19, human rights, climate change, and security in the Indo-Pacific region are set to be discussed. She noted, however, that Australia’s foreign relations were focused on creating “regional and global stability” and were not targeted influence operations. While she did not mention the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) directly, her comments come following last month’s cancellation of two controversial Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) agreements signed by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews. “Our focus and our ability to solve practical problems stem from our understanding that these efforts create regional and global …