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SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian officials are frustrated that the White House is undermining its attempt to investigate the origins of the coronavirus, which has tried to link the outbreak to a Chinese laboratory, government, diplomatic and intelligence sources told Reuters.
Washington’s attack on China has given Beijing room to argue that Australia’s request for an independent investigation is part of a US-led agenda to blame it for the coronavirus outbreak, the sources said.
Canberra has been caught in a diplomatic crisis between Washington, its main security ally, and has already strained relations with Beijing, its main trading partner, even if its successful management of the coronavirus is planned to reopen the economy.
A government source said officials were working hard to see the review as open and global, and that the US “let’s go to China” approach was not helping.
Commerce Minister Simon Birmingham, in response to criticism of whether an investigation would harm trade with China, tried to underscore Australia’s independence during an interview on ABC radio on Friday.
“We are not doing this as a kind of lap dog from the United States,” he said. “You will see that there are some stark differences between some of the things that the Australian government has said and some of the comments that come out of the United States and that is because we take our own analysis, our own evidence, our own advice and we will bring up this issue to the World Health Assembly. “
China’s Foreign Ministry said calls for an investigation are “political manipulation” and said Australia should “give up its ideological biases.”
REPORT
Last weekend, the Sydney Daily Telegraph newspaper said a “dossier prepared by concerned western governments” showed that China had deliberately suppressed or destroyed evidence of the coronavirus outbreak.
The report was released shortly after United States President Donald Trump said he had seen evidence that the coronavirus came from a laboratory in Wuhan, the epicenter of the global outbreak.
United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said there was “a significant amount of evidence” that the virus came from Wuhan’s laboratory, although he also said there was no certainty.
Government and intelligence officials said the document the article was referring to was a compilation of public reports and newspaper articles, and was not based on intelligence sources.
“It is an investigative work. I can tell you that we are not paying much attention to it,” said an intelligence source.
No public evidence has linked the outbreak to the laboratory in Wuhan, and scientists have said that the coronavirus appears to have developed in nature.
Australia shares intelligence with the United States under the “Five Eyes” agreement that also includes Canada, Great Britain, and New Zealand.
An official familiar with the 15-page document cited in the article told Reuters that it was American, appeared to be designed to muster support for the United States’ position, and was not an intelligence job.
The document included bullets describing ways in which China had not been transparent in the treatment of the coronavirus, obtained from newspaper articles and other claims that were already in the public domain, the official said.
There were no contributions from Australian agencies in the document, the source said.
Australian media have reported concerns that the US embassy in Canberra may have been the source of the document. The United States embassy declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.
“Australians are pushing for reform at the World Health Assembly; this does not help those efforts. You can understand their frustration,” said one Western diplomat, who declined to be named diplomat, as did the other government and Intelligence sources are not authorized to speak to the media.
TIME
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has repeatedly said he has seen no evidence to support the theory that the virus came from a laboratory, and that the most likely source was a wildlife market in Wuhan. He said the goal was to know how to prevent another outbreak.
“It is not directed at anyone, we just want to know what happened so that it doesn’t happen again,” Morrison said Friday, when asked if the US approach. USA In Wuhan’s laboratory theory it was counterproductive.
“It is a fairly honest question, with honest intention and honest motive. And I see more and more support for that position,” he said, referring to Australia’s goals.
Morrison wrote to G20 leaders this week seeking support for an independent investigation. The European Union will raise the issue at the World Health Assembly this month.
Australia hopes that if there is broad international support for an independent investigation, China will cooperate.
But China is Australia’s largest trading partner, and an already strained diplomatic relationship has been strained by the push for an investigation.
The Chinese ambassador warned last month that Chinese consumers could boycott Australian products, which the government said was a threat of economic coercion.
(Report by Kirsty Needham and Colin Packham. Gerry Doyle edition)
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