FILE PHOTO: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang takes a question from a journalist during the daily press briefing of the Foreign Ministry in Beijing, China, March 18, 2020. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s foreign ministry said on Thursday that Australia’s call for an independent probe into the coronavirus epidemic was political maneuvering and said the country should end its ideological bias.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang also told reporters during a briefing that China has no wildlife wet markets, responding to a question about U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo’s comments calling for China to close all wildlife wet markets in the country.