Drawing the ire of the communist Chinese government, Australia has announced that it will follow the lead of the United States and investigate the possibility that the Coronavirus leaked from A Wuhan bio-lab.

“The issues around the coronavirus are issues for independent review, and I think that it is important that we do that. In fact, Australia will insist on that,” the country’s Foreign Minister Marise Payne said earlier this week.

The Australian opposition party also expressed support for Payne and announced that it hopes the Chinese government will fully cooperate with an investigation.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison spoke with President Trump on Tuesday, which triggered the Chinese government into a verbal attack.

“These days, certain Australian politicians are keen to parrot what those Americans have asserted and simply follow them in staging political attacks on China,” a statement from the Chinese embassy in Canberra read.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry also responded to the call for an investigation into the origins of the virus, claiming that it constitutes disrespect for “the Chinese people’s tremendous efforts and sacrifices”.

“Any question about China’s transparency in the prevention and control of epidemic situation is not in line with facts,” Chinese Foreign Minister Geng Shuang said.

Australia is one of the countries that has dealt with the spread of the virus more effectively, minimising its effects, and only suffering 75 fatalities.

Meanwhile, reports indicate that Chinese authorities have failed to contain new coronavirus outbreaks in Beijing and Heilongjiang.

The cities are close to China’s northernmost province bordering Russia, promoting fears that a second wave of the outbreak will overwhelm the area.

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