Chinese official reveals secret meetings between Canberra and Beijing to coordinate COVID-19 ‘response cooperation’
A Chinese official has sensationally revealed a series of meetings have taken place with Australian authorities to discuss “response cooperation” over the country’s spiralling COVID-19 crisis.
Beijing and Canberra have held a meeting to discuss a response to China's spiralling COVID-19 crisis.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin broke news of the bilateral discussions on Thursday, saying Chinese authorities had held several meetings with Australia in recent days to discuss COVID-19 “response cooperation”.
The meeting was not previously public knowledge.
“In addition, over the past days, the competent Chinese authorities held a series of bilateral meetings with the EU and Australia to have exchanges on COVID-related issues and strengthen response cooperation,” Mr Wang said.
The Australian Department of Health and Aged Care confirmed a January 11 meeting to SkyNews.com.au on Friday.
"Officials from the Departments of Health and Aged Care and Foreign Affairs and Trade, along with Australian clinical experts, met virtually with China’s National Health Commission and China CDC on 11 January 2022," they said.
"The discussion provided an opportunity to exchange information on our respective COVID-19 situations and discuss clinical management approaches. Both countries agreed on the importance of ongoing communication and information sharing.
"We look forward to further opportunities to discuss the COVID situation and our respective responses with China."
In an attempt to deflect from criticism over the lack of transparency surrounding China’s recent COVID-19 outbreak, Mr Wang said the country had been sharing information and data with the international community in an “open” manner.
“We reported the spread of the virus to the WHO at the earliest opportunity,” he said.
“We immediately sequenced and published the genome of the virus and shared with the world China’s protocols for diagnostics, treatment and containment.
“Those efforts marked an important contribution to global vaccine and drugs research and development. We have been in close communication with the WHO.”
Australia’s Health Minister Mark Butler implemented a mandatory COVID-19 testing requirement for travellers from China to pressure the country to provide a more ready stream of data about infections and deaths.
South Korea and Japan have also issued the same requirement, sparking a diplomatic war between the countries.
China stopped issuing short-term visas to the two nations in retaliation but is yet to do so for Australia.
The Chinese government labelled the testing requirements as “discriminatory entry restrictions” despite having the same requirements in place themselves.
https://www.skynews.com.au/world-news/global-affairs/chinese-official-reveals-secret-meetings-between-canberra-and-beijing-to-coordinate-covid19-response-cooperation/news-story/ec41dc929c3c4ad0446214eb7a4c6d93