Australia says China has not yet responded to requests to discuss the easing of tensions, amid a trade dispute that erupted after Canberra called for an investigation into the origin of the coronavirus, insinuating that Beijing was to blame.

Australian Trade Minister Simon Birmingham made the remark in a television interview with ABC News on Sunday after China suspended beef imports from four of Australia�s largest meat processors and said was considering imposing hefty tariffs on imports of barley.

"We�ve made a request for me to be able to have discussions with my Chinese counterpart. That request has not been met with a call being accommodated at this stage," Birmingham said. "We are open to have that discussion, even where there are difficult issues to be discussed."

The Australian trade minister also said his country reserved the right to bring a case against China at the World Trade Organization (WYO) if Beijing imposed the tariffs on Australia�s barley.

The call for a probe into the origin of the new coronavirus was first made by the United States, and Australia soon became the only other country to openly follow suit. The US President Donald Trump administration has been suggesting that the coronavirus was artificially synthesized at a lab in China and that Beijing failed to act promptly when its own outbreak began late last year.

The World Health Organization (WHO), senior US scientists, and even the US intelligence community have rejected both claims despite pressure from the White House.

China has also denied both accounts and has reacted strongly to the US and Australia for making such allegations.

Beijing lashed out at Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison late last month, saying he deserved "a slap in the face" for trying to blame the COVID-19 pandemic on China.

China also warned then that any political moves for an inquiry into its origins would trigger a travel and further trade boycott.

The respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus has caused more than 4.72 million infections and 313,260 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

SOURCE: PRESS TV

LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/17674

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