Chinese Officials Are Now Trying to Reshape the COVID-19 Narrative: “Coronavirus is Not a China Virus”

Chinese ambassador to Kenya, Wu Peng, speaking during an interview with CGTN Africa presenter Beatrice Marshall. Image via CGTN Africa.

Now that the COVID-19 infection rate in China is steadily declining and the government appears to be gaining some measure of control over the outbreak, officials in Beijing are now turning their attention to getting the domestic economy going again and to re-shaping the narrative surrounding the contagion.

Chinese officials appear very sensitive to the suggestion that COVID-19 is a Chinese virus and that China somehow bears responsibility for the outbreak that has now spread around the world. In response, it appears that a new set of talking points have been issued that are now making their way across China’s official social media channels and state-run media outlets including CGTN Africa.

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by Eric Olander

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