Covid-19 revives racism vs Asian Australians and threatens relations with China

SYDNEY: Australia is entering what observers here say could be a deep recession, the first in almost 30 years. It was the rise of China that helped this sparsely populated vast continent to avoid a recession for the past three decades, the most extended period of economic growth in Australian history.

Rather than being thankful to China, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne in an interview with local TV on April 19 called for an “independent” inquiry into the origins of Covid-19 in Wuhan expressing concerns about transparency from China on the issue.