Australia rejects Beijing’s ‘economic coercion’ threat amid planned probe into pandemic origin

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne has cautioned China against attempts at “economic coercion” as Australia pushes for an investigation into the coronavirus pandemic. Beijing’s ambassador to Australia, Cheng Jingye, said in a newspaper interview on Monday the “Chinese public” could avoid Australian products and universities.

Payne said in a statement on Monday that Australia had made a “principled call” for an independent review of the Covid-19 outbreak which started in the Chinese city of Wuhan, Reuters reports. “We reject any suggestion that economic coercion is an appropriate response to a call for such an assessment, when what we need is global cooperation,” Payne said.

Last week, Australia called for all members of the World Health Organization (WHO) to support an independent review into the origins and spread of the coronavirus, and is lobbying world leaders. China’s Foreign Ministry has opposed the proposal.

China is the largest export market for Australian wine and beef. During strained diplomatic relations with China in 2018, Australian wine faced import delays in China and some Australian beef exports were also previously suspended for a period. The Chinese embassy in Australia has previously warned Chinese students about “safety risks” in traveling to Australia.