China has lashed Australia for playing politics with the pandemic after Scott Morrison called for a global inquiry into the origins of coronavirus.
The Australian prime minister will have the chance to propose an international inquiry when the World Health Organisation meets in May and wants China to be involved.
But China’s foreign ministry spokesman has accused Australia of “politically motivated suspicions and accusation” and of undermining international co-operation to stamp out COVID-1.9
In one of his regular press conferences, Geng Shuang said Australia was playing “political games” over the virus and being “highly irresponsible”.
His comments, which have since been distributed by the Chinese embassy in Canberra, were in response to a question from a journalist about Mr Morrison lobbying France, Germany and New Zealand to back an independent review.
“I have noticed relevant reports. If they are truthful, then I have to say that the so-called independent review proposed by the Australian side is political manoeuvring in essence,” said Mr Shuang.
“It will disrupt international cooperation in fighting the pandemic and goes against people’s shared aspiration.
“Currently, with the pandemic still spreading across the world, the most pressing task is to put people’s life and health first and work together to defeat the virus.
“At such a critical juncture, it is highly irresponsible to resort to politically-motivated suspicion and accusation.
“We advise the Australian side to put aside ideological bias and political games, focus on the welfare of the Australian people and global public health security, follow the international community’s collective will for cooperation, and contribute to the global cooperation in fighting the virus, instead of doing things to the contrary.”
China’s terse rebuke comes amid ongoing suspicion that Beijing is playing down the extent of the virus inside its own borders, and has obscured the circumstances in which it came into existence.
Conspiracy theories about the virus escaping from a lab in Wuhan have also been gaining traction but have been rejected by many researchers who point to bats at the original source.
Beijing’s stinging rebuke is in effect a warning that the Chinese regime will not tolerate questions nor criticism of its role as the pandemic’s global starting point.
Australia’ Foreign Affairs minister Marise Payne has urged a “transparent international review into COVID-19”.
Last week Mr Morrison said the world needed to learn the lessons from the coronavirus outbreak.
“We will need an independent inquiry, that looks at what has occurred here so we can learn the lessons,” Mr Morrison said.
“Any member of the World Health Organization, I think that should be something that should be understood and that’s part, I think, of your responsibility — or should be anyway — in participating in such an organisation.”
“Our purpose here is just pretty simple — we’d like the world to be safer when it comes to viruses,” he said.
“It seems like a pretty honest ambition that I’m sure most people in the world would agree with.
“I would hope that any other nation … be it China or anyone else, would share that objective.”
Coronavirus toll
Australia’s fatalities climbed to 81 on Saturday with the death of an 83-year-old nursing home resident. He became the sixth fatality at Newmarch House, where four other elderly residents are also fighting the infection.
A total of 6695 cases have been recorded in Australia, more than 5372 have recovered.
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