Beijing’s controversial “wolf-warrior” ambassador to Australia, Cheng Jingye, has finished his post and will be returning to China. Australia’s Foreign Minister Marise Payne told a Senate Estimates committee on Oct. 28 that Cheng, who had arrived in 2016, was “about to depart if he has not already departed.” The ambassador has been the public face of Beijing’s “wolf-warrior diplomacy” in Australia and began making headlines in April 2020 after Payne publicly called for an independent investigation into the origins of COVID-19. Cheng’s response was to make veiled threats and warn the federal government that pushing for an inquiry could see Australia-China bilateral trade suffer. What followed was an economic coercion campaign that saw the Chinese authorities roll out a series of measures to disrupt key Australian exports, including barley, coal, cotton, hay, logs, meat, rock lobsters, and wine. Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg estimated on Sept. 6 that the measures contributed …