THREAD: It is remarkable how China managed to transform what some saw as a "Chernobyl moment" in Feb when there was mounting public anger toward its cover-up of the coronavirus outbreak into a nationalist celebration which frames the regime as a responsible global power.
Beijing’s tactics have included: 1: its quick co-option of doctor whistleblower Li Wenliang, who was initially punished for spreading "rumors" but now is described as a "martyr": the highest honor awarded by the Party to its citizens.
By doing so Beijing swiftly dissolved much of the discontent about Li’s treatment, which peaked in early Feb, shifted the focus to how the regime was quick to recognize and reward ordinary people who made great sacrifices in fighting the virus.
2: The constant positive coverage churned out by the propaganda apparatus. By silencing citizen journalists and kicking out foreign reporters, Beijing managed to create an information bubble for its citizens.
One popular narrative promoted by state media like Xinhua is how the world owes China thanks for both its great sacrifices and the aid given to other countries during the outbreak.
3: emphasizing other countries', especially the US’, missteps in handling the virus. Videos showing desperate medical workers and families in foreign countries were trending on Weibo, while concepts such as "herd immunity" once promoted by the UK gov were mocked by netizens,
4: spreading confusion about the origin of the virus. For instance, an Italian doctor's remarks that the epidemic could have started spreading in Italy as early as Nov, which the doctor emphasized were not meant to address the origin of the virus but only the timing,
have been read over 490 million times on Weibo after Chinese state media translated and published the comments on the site, with many commentators saying this serves as further evidence that the virus originated not in China, but elsewhere:
qz.com/1823417/italy-…
Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, also tweeted in March that “it might be the US army” that brought the coronavirus to China, giving an official boost to a conspiracy theory that had circulated on Chinese social media for weeks:
qz.com/1817736/china-…
Conclusion: although there are still grieving relatives and coronavirus victims who demand an apology and explanation from at least the Wuhan gov for its mishandling of the epidemic, the overall Chinese sentiment seems more positive compared with Feb thanks to the tactics.
Exhibit A one poll of those born after 1990 conducted by Chinese Academy of Social Sciences found 96.5% of the youngsters surveyed felt more proud of the country after the outbreak, altho around 80% also said there are problems exposed by the outbreak.
China also gets top ranking out of 23 countries including Vietnam and US, from its citizens in terms of its gov response to coronavirus, according to insights agencies Blackbox Research and Toluna:
cnbc.com/2020/05/07/cor…
