China Spins Coronavirus Crisis, Hailing Itself as a Global Leader (NYT)

[dalton99a]

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/28/world/asia/china-coronavirus-response-propaganda.html

China Spins Coronavirus Crisis, Hailing Itself as a Global Leader
The propaganda push suggests the Chinese government might be worried about the lasting damage of the outbreak.
By Javier C. Hernández
Feb. 28, 2020, 5:00 a.m. ET

The Chinese government silenced whistle-blowers, withheld crucial information and played down the threat posed by the new coronavirus, allowing an epidemic that has killed thousands to take hold across the country.

Now the ruling Communist Party, facing a storm of anger from the Chinese public over its missteps, is trying to rehabilitate its image by rebranding itself as the unequivocal leader in the global fight against the virus.

The state-run news media has hailed China’s response to the outbreak as a model for the world, accusing countries like the United States and South Korea of acting sluggishly to contain the spread.

“Some countries slow to respond to virus,” read a recent headline from Global Times, a stridently nationalistic tabloid controlled by the Chinese government.

Party officials have tried to spin the crisis as a testament to the strength of China’s authoritarian system and its hard-line leader, Xi Jinping, even announcing plans to publish a book in six languages about the outbreak that portrays him as a “major power leader” with “care for the people.”

China is still deep in the throes of a public health crisis, with more than 78,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus infections and at least 2,700 deaths. Factories in many areas have halted production, and the authorities have imposed lockdown measures across much of the country, beginning in January in the central city of Wuhan, the center of the outbreak.

Wu Qiang, a political analyst in Beijing and a critic of the party, said a propaganda campaign was unlikely to satisfy the public.

“It is difficult to believe that the Chinese Communist Party has played the role of a hero or leader in the so-called coronavirus prevention in the world,” he said.

“This crisis has caused a fatal blow to Xi Jinping’s personal image,” he said. “For a long time to come, the public will continue to doubt him, and this doubt is irreparable.”

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NEXT: The world should thank China

[intrepidity]

1. This doesn't sit well with me

As much as I marveled at the lengths to which China went to contain this, I was equally disturbed by some of their severe methodology as well as, I believe, lack of transparency.

To see them crowing now is very distasteful. I think they're not done yet with this virus.