Australia taking instructions from Trump: China

As Australia remains under lockdown, some lawmakers have backed calls for a probe into China's handling of the epidemic. Photo: Reuters

China accused Australia of taking instructions from the United States over its criticism of Beijing's handling of the initial outbreak of the novel coronavirus, marking a further deterioration in ties between the two major trading partners.



Senior Australian lawmakers have in recent days echoed US President Donald Trump in calls for an inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus, and questioned Beijing's transparency over a pandemic that has now paralysed cities around the world.



China's embassy in Canberra said Australian lawmakers were acting as the mouthpiece of Trump.



"It is well known that recently some people in the U.S. including high-level officials have been spreading anti-China 'information virus'," a statement from the embassy said late on Tuesday.



"These days, certain Australian politicians are keen to parrot what those Americans have asserted and simply follow them in staging political attacks on China."



Bilateral ties between Australia and China have soured in recent years, with Canberra accusing Beijing of meddling in its domestic affairs and raising concerns about what it sees as China's growing influence in the Pacific region.



Trading ties remain strong. China is Australia's largest trading partner, buying more than one-third of the country’s total exports and sending more than a million tourists and students there each year in an exchange worth more than A$189 billion.



Australia's Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said Canberra did not want to weaken its trading relationship with China but it would not be silenced.



"What we want to do is obviously defend Australia's national interest in whatever realm that is, and we'll continue to do so," Frydenberg told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. (Reuters)