Australia Emphasizes "Proper Investigation of COVID-19 Origin Needed"... Tensions with China Escalating?

WHO Independent Evaluation Panel to Submit Interim Report Next Month

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The Australian government has once again emphasized that the international community must clearly identify the origin and cause of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), regardless of China's strong opposition.

According to the Guardian on the 28th (local time), Australia, a member of the World Health Organization (WHO) Executive Board, is continuously calling for a "strong, independent, and comprehensive" international investigation ahead of the submission of the interim report on the COVID-19 origin investigation next month. An independent evaluation team co-chaired by former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark is scheduled to submit this report to the WHO Board next month.

The Australian Department of Health told the Guardian, "Australia encourages all countries to participate openly and constructively in this investigation process." They positively assessed the progress of the investigation while emphasizing that the evaluation team has substantial work to do. They also added that they will cooperate with Executive Board countries to enable WHO to evaluate the COVID-19 response and strengthen WHO's functions to prevent, mitigate, and respond to future pandemics.

Since April, Australia has voiced the need for the international community to find the origin and cause of COVID-19. During this process, relations between China and Australia significantly deteriorated. China opposed Australia's demands, calling them "political scheming," and about a month after these demands, imposed a series of anti-dumping tariffs on Australian products such as beef, barley, and wine.

Nevertheless, Australia continues to demand an international investigation from WHO. Recently, Australia announced it would file a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) over China's tariff impositions, bringing the dispute between the two countries into a new phase. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison emphasized that Australia's sovereignty is not a bargaining chip and stated, "We will not succumb to (China's) economic pressure."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.