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UPDATE: As of April 3, the Telegraph appeared to have removed the People's Daily Online site in its entirety. As of April 7, the Telegraph also appeared to have removed China Daily's China Watch feature. A spokesperson for the Telegraph did not return a request for comment

When medical authorities in China claimed they’d cured more than 750 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, using pseudoscience, one major British newspaper made sure there was space for China's party line on the story.



“Traditional Chinese medicine ‘helps fight coronavirus,'” declared the March 3 headline, in the online version of the Daily Telegraph. Without any evidence, the article claimed that the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine had tested an unidentified “prescription” on 804 patients, and that "by the end of 14 February," it had proven "effective in 94 per cent of the cases."




The article was published in a section of the Telegraph’s site called People’s Daily Online, a self-contained “advertisement feature” promising "all the latest stories about contemporary China’s dynamic development, diverse culture and world-leading infrastructure," complete with a home page and sections for news, opinion, business, and sports, among other topics. But beyond a boilerplate disclaimer waiving responsibility, nowhere does the site disclose any information about its sponsor.

People’s Daily is the official newspaper and mouthpiece of the Communist Party of China. Its "advertisement feature" on the Telegraph's site is part of a global propaganda campaign that positions the country as a leader in fighting the novel coronavirus pandemic, which has now killed more than 44,000 people worldwide.

The Telegraph is one of dozens of newspapers around the world that have struck deals with China in recent years. According to one report, the paper received £750,000 annually to carry a supplement called China Watch from Chinese state-run newspaper China Daily, a relationship which, prior to the coronavirus pandemic, had led to accusations that the British newspaper had softened its editorial line on Beijing.

The Daily Telegraph and the People's Daily did not return requests for comment. At least 16 articles were taken down Wednesday, after BuzzFeed News began asking questions.



Online archives show that the People's Daily Online began running stories about the coronavirus in February, shortly after China's President Xi Jinping “called upon Chinese media to publish stories casting [China's response] in a positive light,” as Axios reported. Since then, it has run more than 50 paid articles in the Telegraph praising the Chinese government and attacking its foreign adversaries. Unlike the Telegraph’s own coronavirus coverage, much of which is hidden behind a paywall, all of the People's Daily Online content is free to read.