Coronavirus: Chinese paper hops into Australia over inquiry call

China’s state-owned Global Times has called Australia a ‘giant kangaroo that serves as a dog of the US’.

China’s state-owned Global Times has called Australia a “giant kangaroo that serves as a dog of the US”, as the Morrison government demands assurances that Beijing won’t impose further punitive sanctions on Australian products.

The newspaper said in an editorial that a resolution committing to an independent inquiry into the coronavirus pandemic passed by the World Health Assembly on Tuesday was “entirely different” to the one sought by Australia and a “slap in the face” for the country.

The inflammatory article followed China’s belated support for the EU-drafted resolution, which Australia had heavily advocated for and was ultimately co-­sponsored by 137 nations.

The newspaper accused Australia of doing the bidding of the US, warning “it seems that Australia, this giant kangaroo that serves as a dog of the US, will hit a deadlock with China on trade disputes in sectors like coal and beef”.

The editorial attributed the warning to a Chinese “netizen”, while also citing “analysts” it said had “denounced” the inquiry sought by Western politicians.

With the bilateral relationship at boiling point, Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said China should respond to claims it had a hit-list of Australian exports that could be targeted through stricter quality checks, delayed Customs clearances, anti-dumping probes or state media-encouraged consumer boycotts.

Bloomberg News reported that wine, seafood, oats, fruit and dairy exports were among the commodities on the list.

Senator Birmingham said: “This is an unsourced claim for Chinese authorities to respond to.”

He said Australia noted recent Chinese government statements recommitting to the China-­Australia Free-Trade Agreement, and that Australia would continue to uphold its commitments under the agreement.

Trade expert Jeffrey Wilson said China’s decision to impose an 80 per cent tariff on Australian barley this week did not constitute a breach of ChAFTA, but was a ­violation of the spirit of the agreement. He said the agreement aimed to resolve trade issues co-operatively “rather than taking drastic actions”.

“In layman's terms, there is an intent to arbitrate rather than litigate. In the main, that’s what’s happened up until now,” said Dr Wilson, of the Perth USAsia ­Centre.

“But in this case China has said: ‘Forget arbitration, we’re going thermonuclear and if you don’t like we’ll see you in court.’ ”

Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the number of nations backing the “very, very important” World Health Assembly resolution was believed to be a record.

“That will provide us with a path for an independent, impartial and comprehensive review, and the EU’s motion has been absolutely pivotal in that,” she told ABC radio.

The evaluation is likely to be undertaken by the WHO’s Independent Oversight and Advisory Committee, led by British national Felicity Harvey.

While the body is part of the WHO, “it is an independent organisation drawn from national governments (and) NGOs”, Senator Payne said.

The Global Times said Australia and other Western governments had misrepresented the evaluation, which would use “existing mechanisms” and was not “a probe into China's initial handling of the outbreak”, it said.

“This attempt by some Western politicians to politicise a routine post-epidemic evaluation as part of their efforts to boost anti-China rhetoric has been officially denounced, as the global community won’t accept an unfair and unscientific appeal, some analysts said, noting that its attempts and delusion would be doomed,” the newspaper said.

The scathing editorial follows similar comments by China’s ambassador to Australia, whose spokesman said this week that it was a “joke” to suggest Australia had got its way in ­securing a global investigation into the coronavirus.