







China now seems to have survived the worst coronavirus epidemic, as the number of new cases has fallen sharply and life has returned to normal. But China has also used propaganda to gloss over its role in the pandemic.





The State Department last week confirmed a conspiracy theory that the virus was brought to China by U.S. soldiers visiting Wuhan in October. The Chinese government has also claimed to have worked hard to contain the disease as soon as it learned of its existence, although there is evidence that Beijing knew of the disease as early as December and did nothing to warn citizens or prevent its spread. Journalists and diplomats have conscientiously reported that China's propaganda agencies have become exuberant in an effort to shift responsibility for the viruses to the US, with China's systems touted as more effective in containing the epidemic than the West's, and China portrayed as the world's savior.

The coronavirus may have inadvertently emerged from an animal market that is widely believed to have started the outbreak, home to large numbers of cattle, pigs and other animals with high blood pressure.

The Chinese government has withheld crucial information, silenced whistleblowers, and downplayed the threat of the new coronavirus, which has spread an epidemic that has killed thousands. The Chinese government's efforts to gloss over its role in suppressing information about the virus and the doctors and whistleblowers who tried to warn their fellow citizens of its imminent danger have not been successful at home and abroad.

Chinese officials instead accused the American army of bringing the virus to Wuhan, and state media hailed China's response to the outbreak as a model for the world, accusing countries such as the United States and South Korea of acting sluggishly to contain the spread. Facing its first major public-health crisis in decades, the ruling Communist Party is trying to rehabilitate its image by repositioning itself as an unequivocal leader in the global fight against the viruses.

China's stance on the pandemic is best illustrated by what has been described as illusory hegemony. This implies that China will do all it can to counter the efforts of the US and other global powers, including mendacity and propaganda, to hide its weakness.

In the case of COVID 19, China's embrace of illusory hegemony has the potential to highlight its inability to manage disasters. By trying to bury early news of the virus for the regime's legitimacy, the Chinese Communist Party has turned away from its own ability to control its spread. As China becomes the new superpower with far-reaching economic consequences, its dependence on Beijing has revealed its inability to steer international initiatives.

China's economy will send shockwaves internationally, with many countries facing the effects of a "Chinese slowdown," according to a recent International Monetary Fund report. While China appears to be at the peak of the contagion, sending more people back to work, other countries should learn such protocols.

Credits: China-Us Focus

Despite the early mistakes, the Chinese government has worked hard to make COVID 19, which was first detected in Wuhan in November, a national success story. Although China was the first major country to appear to control the virus, the problem is not over. China's economy is showing signs of recovery, but only so much growth is possible, while many world markets have come to a crippling halt.

China has strengthened itself by offering assistance to Italy and other hard-hit countries. The virus has become so powerful that it has overtaken its superpower rival, the US, as the world's second-largest economy after the United States.

In Foreign Affairs, the effectiveness of China's domestic governance model has been emphasized. The state-run China Daily, the country's official news agency, boasted on February 20, when most of China's 19 COVID cases were dealt with, that "China's achievements were being touted as evidence of the strength of its economic and political system.

But that does not look so prophetic now: the number of confirmed cases in China and other countries fell from thousands to zero in one day last week, and the World Health Organization has declared a global pandemic. Outside China itself, there have been more cases, but none in the US, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand.