All member nations of the World Health Organization (WHO) should support
a proposed independent review into the coronavirus pandemic, Australia’s Prime
Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday, further threatening strained ties
with China.
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| Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison |
Australia has become one of most
forceful critics of Beijing for its handling of the spread of the coronavirus,
with Morrison urging several world leaders to support an international inquiry
into its origins and spread, as well as the WHO’s response.
The COVID-19 outbreak originated in
China and has since spread to infect some 2.3 million people globally and
killed nearly 160,000, according to Reuters calculations. Beijing has fiercely
rejected calls for an inquiry, describing the efforts as U.S.-led propaganda
against China.
Morrison said all members of the WHO
should be obliged to participate in a review, adding that Australia would push
for the inquiry during the WHO Assembly on May 17.
“We’d like the world to be safer when
it comes to viruses... I would hope that any other nation, be it China or
anyone else, would share that objective,” Morrison told reporters in Canberra.
China is Australia’s largest trading
partner, but diplomatic ties have frayed in recent years amid allegations
Beijing has committed cyber-attacks and has attempted to interfere in
Canberra’s domestic affairs.
“The so-called independent inquiry
proposed by Australia is in reality political manipulation,” said China’s
foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang, speaking at a daily news briefing in
Beijing on Thursday. ...
“We advise Australia to give up its
ideological prejudices,” he said.
Australia’s calls for an inquiry will
win favour with the White House - which has been critical of China and the
World Health Organization’s handling of the pandemic, and has withdrawn U.S.
funding from the U.N. agency.
China said on Thursday it will donate
an additional $30 million to the WHO.
There also seems to be less
enthusiasm for an inquiry in Europe, with both France and Britain saying now is
not the time to apportion blame.
Germany’s Angela Merkel said Thursday
that the WHO is an “indispensable partner” and the country supports its
mandate.
Morrison’s comments came just hours
after a senior Australian government official called on G20 nations to end
wildlife wet markets over concerns they pose a threat to human health and agricultural
markets.
The outbreak in China was thought to
have started in a wet market in the city of Wuhan. Wet markets are a key facet
of China’s daily life, though not all sell wildlife.
China imposed a temporary ban on
selling wildlife on Jan. 23 and is now reviewing its legislation to restrict
commercial wild animal trading on a permanent basis.
Minister for Agriculture David
Littleproud said on Thursday he had asked government officials from the Group
of 20 major economies to back a plan to end wildlife wet markets.
U.S. officials have also called for
wildlife wet markets across Asia to be closed. Wet markets exist throughout
Asia selling fresh vegetables, seafood and meat, with some also selling exotic
animals.
Australia’s call for global action
comes as it successfully slows the spread of coronavirus, with new infections
well below 1% a day. Australia has about 6,600 cases of coronavirus and 76
deaths from the virus.
Around a third of Australia’s cases
can be traced to cruise liners and one ship, the Ruby Princess owned by
Carnival Corp, is responsible for about 10% of cases.
Authorities granted the Ruby Princess
permission to disembark its 2,700 passengers last month without health checks,
and police are how investigating whether the ship’s operators knowingly let coronavirus
patients disembark.
The Ruby Princess, which has been in
Australia since March, is expected to depart on Thursday with just crew, though
it is unclear where it will go. - Reuters
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