SYDNEY: China and Australia have started another battle, this time over the Covid-19 vaccination rollout in the South Pacific. In a lengthy article on July 2, China's Global Times accused Australia of sabotaging China's Covid-19 vaccination assistance scheme in Papua New Guinea (PNG) by planting 'consultants' to manipulate local epidemic policies targeting China, blocking the approval of a Chinese vaccine's emergency use and threatening senior PNG officials who were collaborating with China in the vaccine rollout program.

According to Global Times, it had 'learned exclusively from sources that Australia has been racking its brain to undermine China's vaccine cooperation with Pacific Island countries.' It said that though China has provided vaccines to PNG to fight the pandemic in February, under pressure from Australian consultants, the PNG government did not approve its emergency use until May when Australia's consignment of Covid vaccines arrived.