Don’t be fooled by China’s coronavirus propaganda

As the world wages war on coronavirus, China is in full propaganda mode. Its foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian has claimed the US military might have brought Covid-19 to Wuhan, a lie parroted by several embassy Twitter accounts. It has also sent doctors and medical supplies to Europe and to the United States. Never one to let a good crisis go to waste, China’s leader Xi Jinping has reportedly suggested that the aid Beijing has provided could form the basis of a ‘health silk road’ connecting Europe to China.

But make no mistake: China’s activities are designed to distract from its own culpability. Through its actions and its words, Beijing is seeking to convince the world that Covid-19 did not originate in China, and that the world should be grateful for all that China is doing to halt the spread of the virus. These narratives had some initial success, although this is largely because of what the West did wrong, rather than because of anything China did right.