It has been a month since the editorial board of The Financial Times wrote about the rapid deterioration in the relationship between Beijing and Canberra due to Australia's call for an inquiry into the origins of the COVID-19 virus. Although the Nov. 26 editorial urged that “Democratic countries should coordinate responses to pressure from Beijing,” nothing seems to have changed so far, at least.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s remark last April infuriated China, although what he said was very appropriate given the situation at the time: “Now, it would seem entirely reasonable and sensible that the world would want to have an independent assessment of how this (COVID-19) all occurred, so we can learn the lessons and prevent it from happening again.”
Chinese officials in Australia immediately denounced the comments and leaked a 14-point memo to the local media. Those officials reportedly said, "China is angry. If you make China the enemy, China will be the enemy,” or “Why should China care about Australia?” The leaked Chinese dossier contained the following 14 grievances: