Coronavirus: Australia welcomes growing support for inquiry into pandemic
- Calls for an independent review into the origins and spread of Covid-19 have the provisional support of 116 nations, but China remains strongly opposed
- India, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Russia, Britain and Canada are among the cosponsors of the draft resolution
Names on a draft resolution seen by Reuters on Monday showed support from 116 members was locked in, although Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said negotiations were ongoing and she did not want to pre-empt the outcome.
The resolution was “an important part of the conversation we started, and I am very grateful to the efforts of those in the European Union and those many drafters who have been part of the negotiations for the past few weeks,” she told reporters.
The resolution was comprehensive and included a call for “an examination of the zoonotic origins of the coronavirus”, she added.
More than 4.64 million people are reported to have been infected globally and 310,236 have died from the virus that was first uncovered in China late last year.
Australia – which has reported only 99 deaths from the novel coronavirus – says it wants to prevent a repeat of the pandemic that has paralysed economic activity around the world, and is not looking to cast blame.
“I hope that China will participate,” Australian Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said on Monday as he welcomed building support for an inquiry.
The resolution calls for “scientific and collaborative field missions” to trace the path of transmission, saying this will reduce the risk of similar events.
It also says a review should start at the “earliest appropriate moment”. Some countries still suffering high daily death tolls from Covid-19 have said it is too soon for an investigation.
Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said he had not had a reply to his request for a call with his Chinese counterpart.
In Beijing, Zhong said the two countries were in communication.
Last month, China’s ambassador to Australia warned of a boycott by Chinese consumers if Australia pursued an investigation, prompting Australian ministers to accuse China of “economic coercion”.
