Australia accuses China and Russia of virus disinformation

China and Russia were using the heightened anxiety around the coronavirus pandemic to undermine Western democracies by spreading disinformation online, Australia’s foreign minister said.

The disinformation contributed to a “climate of fear and division” when the world needed cooperation and understanding, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said in a speech at the Australian National University, a text of which was released by her office late Tuesday.

“Concerningly, we have seen disinformation pushed and promoted around the coronavirus pandemic and around some of the social pressures that have been exacerbated by the pandemic,” Payne said.

“It is troubling that some countries are using the pandemic to undermine liberal democracy to promote their own more authoritarian models,” she added.

Payne referred to a European Union commission report last week that said “foreign actors and certain third countries, in particular Russia and China” are flooding Europe with “targeted influence operations and disinformation campaigns.” It cited dangerous misinformation like claims that drinking bleach can cure the disease and that washing hands does not help prevent its spread.

Payne last week rejected as disinformation China’s warning to its citizens against visiting Australia because of pandemic-related racism.

China has also banned beef exports from Australia’s largest abattoirs and ended the trade in Australian barley with prohibitive tariffs in what is widely regarded as punishment for Australia’s advocacy for an independent inquiry into the origins and responses to the pandemic.

Some suspect that China’s decision two weeks ago to sentence Australian Karm Gilespie to death seven years after his arrest for drug trafficking is also linked to the bilateral rift.

Australia claimed vindication when the World Health Organization last month bowed to calls from most of its member states to launch an independent probe into how it managed the international response to the virus. The evaluation would stop short of looking into contentious issues such as the origins of the virus that was identified after an outbreak in China late last year.

Payne acknowledged critics who argued that Australia should have gathered powerful allies before it antagonized China with demands for transparency.

“There were those who said that by speaking out, by seeking a review, we made ourselves a target and brought upon ourselves an unnecessary cost for a cause that would have been championed anyway by others whose size and stature made them more suitable standard-bearers,” she said.

“There are times to pursue quiet diplomacy behind the scenes. But there are also times to voice our concerns and persuade others of the need for a course of action,” she added.