An extraordinary war of words has erupted between Australia and China after Australia backed calls for an international investigation into the causes of the Covid-19 outbreak. Here we look at how the verbal stoush escalated:
在澳大利亚支持对Covid-19爆发原因进行国际调查的呼吁后，澳大利亚和中国之间爆发了一场非同寻常的口水战。下面我们来看看言语冲突是如何升级的：
17 April 4 月 17 日
Australia’s home affairs minister, Peter Dutton: “The US is saying they’ve got documentation that the virus had a particular path or origin. [He said he hadn’t seen it.] I think it is incumbent upon China to answer those questions and provide the information so people can have clarity about exactly what happened because we don’t want it to be repeated.”
澳大利亚内政部长彼得·达顿（Peter Dutton）： “美国表示，他们已经掌握了该病毒具有特定路径或起源的文件。 [他说他没有看到。]我认为中国有责任回答这些问题并提供信息，以便人们能够清楚地了解到底发生了什么，因为我们不希望事情重演。”
19 April 4 月 19 日
Australia’s foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, announces a push for an investigation into the origins and spread of coronavirus while appearing on the ABC’s Insiders: “My trust in China is predicated in the long-term relationship. My concern about these issues, though, is at a very high point. My concern is around transparency and ensuring that we are able to engage openly … openly and clearly in a review process so that we can get to the bottom of this.”
澳大利亚外交部长玛丽斯·佩恩 (Marise Payne)在接受澳大利亚广播公司 (ABC) 的 Insiders 采访时宣布推动对冠状病毒的起源和传播进行调查： “我对中国的信任是建立在长期关系的基础上的。不过，我对这些问题的担忧非常高。我关心的是透明度，并确保我们能够公开地……公开地、明确地参与审查过程，以便我们能够查清真相。”
20 April 4月20日
China’s foreign ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang: “Australia’s foreign minister Payne’s remarks are not based on facts. China is seriously concerned about and firmly opposed to this.”
中国外交部发言人耿爽表示： “澳大利亚外长佩恩的言论没有事实依据。中方对此表示严重关切和坚决反对。
A Global Times news report: “Since the outbreak began, China has always acted in an open, transparent and responsible manner and taken a series of resolute, timely and forceful measures.”
《环球时报》报道： “疫情发生以来，中方始终本着公开、透明、负责任的态度，采取了一系列坚决、及时、有力的措施。”
A Chinese embassy official on Dutton: “Obviously he must have also received some instructions from Washington requiring him to cooperate with the US in its propaganda war against China … Some Australian politicians parroted what those US forces have said and followed them to launch political attacks on China. Their move reveals the former’s ignorance and bigotry as well as a lack of independence, which is sad.”
中国驻华使馆官员谈及达顿： “显然他也收到了华盛顿的一些指示，要求他配合美国对华宣传战……一些澳大利亚政客人云亦云，跟着他们对美国发动政治攻击”中国。他们的举动暴露了前者的无知和偏执以及缺乏独立性，这是令人悲伤的。”
22 April 4月22日
The Labor senator Penny Wong backs an investigation: “If the PM is serious about it, he’s going to have to a lot of work to get international agreement. It means not just talking to our friends, like the US, but also doing the hard yards of talking to countries that aren’t always our friends.”
工党参议员黄英贤支持一项调查： “如果首相认真对待此事，他将需要做很多工作才能获得国际协议。这意味着不仅要与我们的朋友（例如美国）对话，还要与那些并不总是我们朋友的国家进行艰苦的对话。”
A Chinese embassy official: “It is well known that recently some people in the US including high-level officials have been spreading anti-China ‘information virus’. Their aim is to shift blame and deflect attention by smearing China.”
中国驻美使馆官员表示： “众所周知，近期美国一些人包括高官不断散布反华‘信息病毒’。他们的目的就是通过抹黑中国来转嫁责任、转移视线。”
26 April 4月26日
China’s ambassador to Australia, Cheng Jingye, to the Australian Financial Review: “I think in the long term ... if the mood is going from bad to worse, people would think, ‘Why should we go to such a country that is not so friendly to China?’ The tourists may have second thoughts. The parents of the students would also think whether this place which they found is not so friendly, even hostile, whether this is the best place to send their kids here. It is up to the people to decide. Maybe the ordinary people will say, ‘Why should we drink Australian wine? Eat Australian beef?’”
中国驻澳大利亚大使成敬业向《澳大利亚金融评论报》表示： “我认为从长远来看……如果情绪变得越来越糟，人们会想，‘我们为什么要去这样一个不对中国这么友好？游客可能会重新考虑。学生家长也会想，他们发现的这个地方是不是不太友好，甚至充满敌意，这是不是最适合送孩子来这里的地方。由人民来决定。也许老百姓会说，‘我们为什么要喝澳洲葡萄酒？吃澳洲牛肉吗？”
27 April 4月27日
Australia’s trade and tourism minister, Simon Birmingham: “Australia is no more going to change our policy position on a major public health issue because of economic coercion or threats of coercion than we would change our policy position in matters of national security.”
澳大利亚贸易和旅游部长西蒙·伯明翰： “澳大利亚不会因为经济胁迫或胁迫威胁而改变我们在重大公共卫生问题上的政策立场，就像我们不会在国家安全问题上改变我们的政策立场一样。”
Payne: “Australia has made a principled call for an independent review of the Covid-19 outbreak, an unprecedented global crisis with severe health, economic and social impacts. We reject any suggestion that economic coercion is an appropriate response to a call for such an assessment, when what we need is global cooperation.”
佩恩： “澳大利亚原则上呼吁对 Covid-19 疫情进行独立审查，这是一场史无前例的全球危机，对健康、经济和社会造成了严重影响。我们拒绝任何认为经济胁迫是对此类评估呼吁的适当回应的说法，而我们需要的是全球合作。”
Geng Shuang: “Some politicians are trying to make political manoeuvres over the origin to smear other countries, but their unpopular attempts will never succeed.”
耿爽： “一些政客试图利用起源进行政治操弄，抹黑其他国家，但他们的图谋不得人心，永远不会得逞。”
A Global Times editorial about a US-led “blame game”: “Washington from now on would say nothing positive about China, but constantly condemn us. It has a few followers like Australia. But these countries can barely influence us.”
《环球时报》评论美国主导的“指责游戏”： “华盛顿今后不再对中国说任何积极的话，而是不断谴责我们。它有一些像澳大利亚这样的追随者。但这些国家几乎无法影响我们。”
The Global Times editor, Hu Xijin, on Weibo: “Australia is always there, making trouble. It is a bit like chewing gum stuck on the sole of China’s shoes. Sometimes you have to find a stone to rub it off.”
《环球时报》总编辑胡锡进在微博上表示： “澳大利亚总是在那里制造麻烦。这有点像粘在中国鞋底上的口香糖。有时你得找块石头把它擦掉。”
28 April 4月28日
Australia’s Labor leader, Anthony Albanese: “Australia wants a positive relationship with China but it’s got to be built on a level of trust and transparency – and transparency is what is required from assessments of this virus and how it came about.”
澳大利亚工党领袖安东尼·艾博内塞（Anthony Albanese）表示： “澳大利亚希望与中国建立积极的关系，但这种关系必须建立在一定程度的信任和透明度之上——而透明度是对这种病毒及其产生方式的评估所需要的。”
Cheng releases a summary of a private phone call with the Department of Foreign Affairs secretary, Frances Adamson: “Secretary Adamson tried her best to defend Australia’s proposal about the independent review, saying the proposal neither has political motive nor targets China … Ambassador Cheng elaborated clearly China’s relevant position, stressing that no matter what excuses the Australian side has made, the fact can not be buried that the proposal is a political maneuver. Just as a western saying goes: Cry up wine and sell vinegar.”
程大使公布了与外交部长弗兰西斯·亚当森的私人通话摘要： “亚当森部长极力为澳大利亚关于独立审查的提议辩护，称该提议既没有政治动机，也不针对中国……程大使阐述得很清楚中方就此表明了相关立场，强调无论澳方提出什么借口，都掩盖不了该提议是政治操弄的事实。西方有句俗话：叫酒卖醋。
The department responds to Cheng’s statement: “DFAT notes with regret that the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China has issued a statement releasing purported details of official diplomatic exchanges. The department will not respond by itself breaching the long standing diplomatic courtesies and professional practices to which it will continue to adhere.”
该部门对程的声明作出回应： “外交贸易部遗憾地注意到中华人民共和国大使馆发表声明，公布了所谓的官方外交交往细节。该部门不会自行作出回应，违反其将继续遵守的长期外交礼节和专业惯例。”
A Global Times editorial: “This is an all-out crusade against China and Chinese culture, led by Australia, which has worked hard in the past to become a comprehensive strategic partner of China … Canberra is treading on a hazardous path that has no prospect for a U-turn during the Covid-19 pandemic, and likely for a long time afterward.”
《环球时报》社论： “这是由过去努力成为中国全面战略伙伴的澳大利亚领导的一场针对中国和中国文化的全面讨伐……堪培拉正走在一条没有前景的危险道路上”在 Covid-19 大流行期间以及之后很长一段时间内可能会出现 180 度大转变。”
29 April 4月29日
Geng Shuang: “I don’t know where the so-called claim of economic coercion comes from.”
耿爽： “我不知道所谓经济胁迫的说法从何而来。”
Hu Xijin on Twitter: “Let me give a ‘coercion’ to Australia. As its attitude toward China becomes worse and worse, Chinese companies will definitely reduce economic cooperation with Australia, and the number of Chinese students & visitors going to Australia will also decrease. Time will prove it all.”
胡锡进在推特上表示： “让我对澳大利亚进行‘胁迫’。随着澳大利亚对华态度越来越差，中国企业肯定会减少与澳大利亚的经济合作，中国赴澳学生和游客数量也会减少。时间会证明一切。”
Australia’s prime minister, Scott Morrison: “This is a virus which has taken 200,000 lives across the world. It has shut down the global economy. It would seem entirely sensible and reasonable that the world would want to have an independent assessment of how this occurred so we can learn the lessons and prevent it from happening again. I think that is a fairly obvious and commonsense suggestion.”
澳大利亚总理斯科特·莫里森（Scott Morrison）： “这种病毒已夺去了全世界 20 万人的生命。它已经关闭了全球经济。世界希望对这种情况是如何发生的进行独立评估，以便我们能够吸取教训并防止其再次发生，这似乎是完全明智和合理的。我认为这是一个相当明显且符合常识的建议。”