China bristles at Australia's call for investigation into coronavirus origin

Beijing warns relationship could be damaged 'beyond repair' after Australian prime minister Scott Morrison cites 'extraordinary' impact of Covid-19

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The Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, has defied China and defended the "entirely reasonable and sensible" call for an investigation into the origins of coronavirus, as the international political fallout over the pandemic deepened.

China has been pushing back against criticism from other governments about how it handled the outbreak of Covid-19, which is believed to have started in Wuhan and which has now infected 3 million people worldwide and killed 200,000.