Foreign secretary Dominic Raab on Thursday warned China there could not be a return to “business as usual” with the UK after the coronavirus crisis and that the international community would want answers from Beijing about its handling of the outbreak.

Mr Raab’s comments reflect frustration at the top of the British government over a perceived lack of transparency by China about the nature of the outbreak, which started in the city of Wuhan at the end of last year.

Speaking at a Downing Street press conference about the UK extending its lockdown in response to the coronavirus, the foreign secretary said: “I think there absolutely needs to be a very, very deep dive after-the-event review of the lessons, including of the outbreak of the virus.

“I don’t think we can flinch from that at all, it needs to be driven by the science.”

Asked whether relations with China could change, Mr Raab said: “We ought to look at all sides of this and do it in a balanced way, but there is no doubt we can’t have business as usual after this crisis.”

Earlier former foreign secretary William Hague had called on the government to take a tougher line with Beijing, including over the involvement of Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei in Britain's 5G mobile phone network.

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Many Conservative MPs were angry at Boris Johnson’s decision in January to grant Huawei a limited role as a supplier for the 5G network.

Some Tories are seeking to exclude the Chinese company’s kit from all UK telecoms infrastructure because of fears it could enable Beijing to spy on Britain.

Huawei has repeatedly said it is a private company and not subject to Chinese state interference.

The coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, and China’s response to it, has created tensions with the UK.

Mr Raab, who is deputising for the prime minister while he recovers from his Covid-19 illness, was speaking shortly after holding a telephone call with US president Donald Trump and other G7 leaders.

Mr Trump has also been strongly critical of Beijing over its handling of the pandemic.

He has accused China of lying about the death toll from coronavirus, while Beijing has also been criticised over its slow response to the disease.

US officials are pushing China to share more data about Covid-19 from the period before December 31, the day the authorities reported to the World Health Organization a cluster of cases of pneumonia in Wuhan.

The Chinese embassy in London has published a statement on its website detailing a phone call on March 20 between Wang Yi, Chinese foreign minister, and Mr Raab, which suggested the latter was trying to calm any tensions.

The statement said that “alarmingly, some people are attempting to politicise the epidemic . . . and stigmatise China”.

It added: “Mr Raab expressed the UK’s firm opposition to politicising the outbreak and fully agrees with China that the source of the virus is a scientific issue that requires professional and science-based assessment.”

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