Number 10 described the move as 'disappointing', insisting that it was vital the probe happens.
Tory MP and founder of Britain's China Research Group, Tom Tugendhat, accused Beijing of 'shameful behaviour'. He said the failure to investigate 'puts everyone at risk of a repeat, and particularly those who are closest - the Chinese people.'
And Sari Haven, of the Mercator Institute for China Studies think-tank, dismissed the regime's claim that a 'visa issue' led to the team being denied entry. She said: 'Of course the decoy narrative becomes more difficult to maintain when the WHO team is snooping around.'