Скачать или смотреть Tensions with Beijing escalate after Chinese embassy leaks private DFAT exchange

A feud with Beijing over calls for an international inquiry into coronavirus has escalated after the Chinese embassy leaked details of a private phone call with Australian officials.

The Australian government is standing firm on the need for an international inquiry into the origins of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Chinese ambassador Cheng Jingye leaked details of a phone call with Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Secretary Frances Adamson in which the ambassador flatly rejected the need for an investigation and urged Australia to put aside ideological bias and stop political games.

Following the leak, Trade and Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham said “these are discussions that happen rightly behind closed doors and the government’s displeasure was made known”.

Mr Birmingham stood firm on the need for an investigation, telling Sky News “we want to see the World Health Assembly embrace the need for reform and improvements to the WHO and the need for an open, transparent, independent investigation”.

Image: News Corp Australia