MICHAEL Gove has blasted China for failing to reveal the true scale of the coronavirus crisis.
The senior Cabinet minister said Beijing was “not clear about the nature, scale and infectiousness” of the disease in the early days of the outbreak.
China has been accused of covering up how serious the outbreak was, and has now been blasted by the senior minister.
He said: “It was the case … [that] the first case of coronavirus in China was established in December of last year, but it was also the case that some of the reporting from China was not clear about the scale, the nature, the infectiousness of this.”
The Communist state had threatened the doctor who first raised the alarm, and are also said to have lied about where the disease began.
Mr Gove’s comments come as a senior Government figure revealed Britain will face off with China when the crisis is over.
Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, they said: “Of course, the priority now is to deal with the crisis, but everybody knows there’s a reckoning when all this is over.”
There were accusations the virus came from an exotic animal food market in China’s central Hubei province.
A leading Minister said: “We have always known their wildlife markets are a recipe for a pandemic.
“China needs to close these down immediately.
“If they don’t they will rightly become a pariah state.”
Questions have been raised over whether China has accurately reported its coronavirus death toll.
President Trump questioned the regime’s numbers as the US overtook the state as having the highest figure in the world, with more than 85,000 confirmed cases.
It comes just months after the Government agreed to allow Huawei to have a limited role in building Britain’s nationally sensitive 5G internet network.
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Huawei is widely regarded to have close connections to the Chinese government, raising security concerns.
The Minister warned the deal should now be looked at again.
They said: “We can’t stand by and allow the Chinese state’s desire for secrecy to ruin the world’s economy and then come back like nothing has happened.
“We’re allowing companies like Huawei not just into our economy, but to be a crucial part of our infrastructure.
“This needs to be reviewed urgently, as does any strategically important infrastructure that relies on Chinese supply chains.”
The explosive warning comes as Tory grandee Iain Duncan Smith accused China of a coronavirus “cover-up” and urged No10 to cut ties.
He said: “As a result of Beijing’s cover-up and delay, global health experts are convinced the rest of the world had insufficient time to prepare for the pandemic, which means the effect of the outbreak has most likely been worse.
“The brutal truth is that China seems to flout the normal rules of behaviour in every area of life – from healthcare to trade and from currency manipulation to internal repression.
“For too long, nations have lamely kow-towed to China in the desperate hope of winning trade deals.
“But one we get clear of this terrible pandemic, it is imperative that we all rethink that relationship and put it on a much more balanced and honest basis.”
