‘Panda Bashing’: China Ramps up Attack on Australia over Push for Coronavirus Inquiry
by Simon Kent
Australia’s refusal to retreat from its call for a global inquiry into the causes of the coronavirus pandemic continued to draw a furious response from Beijing on Wednesday, with Chinese media claiming Australia is forever making trouble, “a bit like chewing gum stuck on the sole of China’s shoes.”
The state-controlled People’s Daily accused Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison of seeking the probe to deflect criticism of his government, declaring his move will be defeated due to a lack of support by the UK and France. “This is a slap on the face which has come quickly,” it warned.
China’s ruling Communist Party has angrily dismissed Australian calls over the past month for an independent investigation into the spread of the disease from the Chinese city of Wuhan, as Breitbart News reported.
The Australians have also been among the most outspoken critics of China’s dangerous refusal to close the live animal “wet markets” seen as spawning grounds for the viral pandemic, and of the World Health Organization’s (W.H.O.) baffling endorsement of their reopening.
Australia confronted the World Health Organization over claims it supports so-called wet markets reopening in the Chinese city of Wuhan. https://t.co/TjH4HmGDzv
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) April 17, 2020
Morrison has continually defied China’s rhetoric and defended the “entirely reasonable and sensible” call for an inquiry as the international political fallout over the pandemic deepens.
On Wednesday Morrison said his conservative coalition government will not be deterred by China’s sneering disdain, as SBS News reported.
“This is a virus that has taken more than 200,000 lives across the world,” he told reporters in Canberra. “It has shut down the global economy. The implications and impacts of this are extraordinary.