WHO Covid-19 report: New Zealand shuts its eyes to appease China

New Zealand refuses to stand with Australia and its other Five Eyes partners to criticise WHO’s probe into COVID-19 origins.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Picture: Getty Images

New Zealand has refused to stand with Australia and its other Five Eyes partners to speak out against a much-criticised World Health Organisation investigation into the origins of COVID in China, as it tries to escape Beijing’s wrath.

The shortcomings of the investigation, which has been highly sensitive in China, were imm­ediately pointed out in joint statements released by the four other Five Eyes nations — the US, Britain, Canada and Australia — as well as Japan, South Korea and eight other countries, and in a separate statement by the EU.

Even WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus himself, who has been criticised for being too conciliatory to Beijing during the pandemic, acknowledged data had been with­held from the investigation team.

“In my discussions with the team they expressed the difficulties they encountered in accessing raw data,” Mr Tedros said at a press conference, which was seemingly censored on the Chinese internet on Wednesday.

“I expect future collaborative studies to include more timely and comprehensive data sharing,” the WHO chief said.

But in Wellington, the Ardern government said it needed more time before it would comment on the report, even though it has been circulating among WHO members for days.

“Our technical experts are currently analysing the report,” a spokeswoman for New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta told The Australian.

“As this is a scientific report, we want to make sure we understand the science before making any comment,” she said.

While Australia’s relationship with China has imploded during the pandemic, New Zealand has become Beijing’s favourite members of the Five Eyes group.

Wellington was rewarded in January with an upgrade in its free trade agreement with China. That was signed as Beijing continued a trade retaliation campaign on more than $20bn worth of Australian exports aimed at punishing the Morrison government for calling for an independent inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus without forewarning Xi Jinping’s administration.

Tony Browne, a former New Zealand ambassador to China, said the Ardern government’s ­absence from the joint statement was not unexpected.

Noting that he did not want to sound critical of Australia’s approach, the retired diplomat said the Morrison government’s call for an inquiry was “framed in terms that were seen as provocative and even hostile in Beijing”.

“The way that the demand was outlined was seen by China as going beyond health into the political,” he told The Australian.

“Calling China into account for the nature of its political management of the issue might sound like a good thing to do, but you know for certain it’s not going to go anywhere in terms of any sort of co-operative involvement from China,” he said.

The WHO team in their report said they were unable to conclude where or how the virus began spreading, although they believe it most likely jumped from a bat or other animal host to a human.

‘Wuhan lab theory needs further study’

A statement signed by the US, Australia and 12 other countries said it was critical the WHO team be given “full access” so they could accurately study the origins of the coronavirus.

The EU statement said the report was a “helpful first step”, while regretting the late start of the study and the limited availability of early samples and related data.

A theory pushed by the Trump administration that the coronavirus emerged from a laboratory in Wuhan was described as the least likely hypothesis, but Tedros acknowledged the WHO team said that theory required further study.

“Further data and studies will be needed to reach more robust conclusions,” he said.

China’s foreign ministry said Beijing had provided “full co-operation” to the WHO team and then repeated a conspiracy theory about the coronavirus leaking from a military lab in America.

“There is still a big question mark over the lab at Fort Detrick,” the foreign ministry spokeswoman said.

Meanwhile, China’s state-controlled Global Times reported that the virus may have arrived in Wuhan on frozen food brought by foreign participants at the October 2019 Military World Games, a theory with no supporting evidence in the report.