Australia on Sunday added to growing pressure on China over its handling of the novel coronavirus, questioning its transparency and demanding an international investigation into the origins of the virus and how it spread.
FILE PHOTO: Australia's Foreign Minister Marise Payne speaks during a news conference at Australian Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, January 10, 2019. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
“The issues around the coronavirus are issues for independent review, and I think that it is important that we do that,” Payne told ABC television.Australia has managed to get its epidemic under control before it strained its public health system, reporting 53 new cases on Sunday. They took its total to 6,586, according to the health ministry data.
Relations have deteriorated amid Australian accusations of Chinese meddling in domestic affairs and concern about what Australia sees as China’s growing, and undue, influence in the Pacific region. Trump and his senior aides have also accused China of a lack of transparency after the coronavirus broke out. On Saturday, Trump said China should face consequences if it was “knowingly responsible” for the pandemic.
“What we saw from some officials in Geneva, we think was a response which didn’t help the world,” Hunt told a briefing.Australia went against the advice of the WHO on Feb. 1 and banned people arriving from China. It later closed its borders and imposed strict curbs on public movements.“We have to focus on containment and capacity,” he said.
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