Australia for independent review to ascertain genesis of coronavirus

Foreign Minister Marise Payne has said that Australia will have to review its ties with China in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic and has called for an independent body to review the origin and spread of coronavirus.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne has said that Australia will have to review its ties with China in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic and has called for an independent body to review the origin and spread of coronavirus. "All of these things (foreign relations with China) will need to be reviewed, [they] will need to be considered in the light of changes in the world economy, in the light of changes in international health security," The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Payne saying.

"We need to know the sorts of details that an independent review would identify for us about the genesis of the virus, about the approaches to dealing with it, and addressing the openness with which information was shared," she added. Australia also shares some concerns that the United States has expressed with regard to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

She said: "I'm not sure that you can have the health organisation, which has been responsible for disseminating much of the international communications material and doing much of the early engagement and investigative work, also as the review mechanism. That strikes me as a bit poacher and gamekeeper." Her views were also echoed by Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt who said that the WHO was unwelcoming of the idea to temporarily ban travel from China in order to stop the spread of the virus.

"We do know there was very considerable criticism when we imposed on February 1 the China ban from some of the officials and the WHO in Geneva," he said. (ANI)