PROPAGANDA IN THE TIME OF CORONAVIRUS F2N2

As a child, my friends and I would fantasize about what the future would look like, we would talk about flying cars by the year of 2015, and for sure by the year of 2020 there would be robots amongst us serving the purpose of making difficult tasks of everyday life, easier. Unfortunately, we couldn’t have missed the mark more with these innocent predictions, not only have we got no flying cars, but the situation is much worse, in the year of 2020 we have to teach people how to properly wash their hands.

The beginning of the year 2020 came with many challenges, but the world was blindsided by the invisible enemy COVID – 19 (Coronavirus Disease), according to the World Health Organization common signs of the infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, the infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death. The outbreak was first identified in Wuhan, Hubei, China, in December 2019 and recognized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 11 March 2020. As of 17 March 2020, more than 196,000 cases of the disease have been reported in over 160 countries and territories, resulting in more than 7,900 deaths and around 81,000 recoveries[1].

On 13 March 2020, the WHO stated that Europe had become the new epicenter of the pandemic. From Ebola to swine flu to HIV/Aids, viruses borne by animals have caused some of the most devastating epidemics in history, but COVID – 19 is different and has not been previously identified in humans[2].

Once praised by the World Health Organization (WHO) and scientists worldwide for its quick, transparent response to the newly named COVID-19, China now is facing international vilification for its efforts of cover-ups, lies, and repression that have already failed to stop the virus. To make matters worse and distress the public even more, on Feb. 6 the death of ophthalmologist Li Wenliang, has revealed the ugliest side of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its terrible effort to rewrite the history of a seemingly out-of-control epidemic. The government responded to the outpouring of grief and anger by censoring social media posting and blocking accounts. Chinese President Xi Jinping was even compared to Mikhail Gorbachev, for failing his country and leading people to their own death like in the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. In both cases, communist regimes waited too long to admit they had a problem, placing the illusion of government control and stability ahead of the preservation of human life. And in both cases, the lack of transparency increased the risk to the entire world.

The reality is that President Xi Jinping acted too late, and yet, the Chinese government has decided to reshape the narrative by declaring early victory in the battle against the pandemic. Besides crafting a better international image, many experts think China’s overall propaganda goal is to maintain social stability at home[3]. As the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak has shifted from China to Europe, Chinese state-run media also began to actively report about China sending medical experts to other countries to help them fight the coronavirus. Beijing turned the narrative around by burying negative stories with new stories about China’s strength and commitment to the international community.

Maria Repnikova, an expert on China’s political communication at Georgia State University in the U.S., said that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has come under enormous public pressure since the outbreak began. “The CCP is also using the ‘beating the virus’ narrative as an opportunity to polish China’s global image as a responsible power that is capable of withstanding the toughest of disasters, as well as using these experiences to help other countries fight the coronavirus,” Repnikova told DW. Maria Repnikova pointed out that China has successfully shifted the narrative from that of a “victim” to a “teacher” or a “leader.”

On March 17 – Tuesday, China announced that it would expel American journalists working for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. It also demanded that those outlets, as well as the Voice of America and Time magazine, provide the Chinese government with detailed information about their operations. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the decisions “are entirely necessary and reciprocal countermeasures that China is compelled to take in response to the unreasonable oppression the Chinese media organizations experience in the U.S.” The statement also accused the United States of “exclusively targeting Chinese media organizations,” adding that it was “driven by a Cold War mentality.” The new limits imposed by the Trump administration effectively forced 60 Chinese employees of the state-run organizations to leave the country[4]. Reporters at foreign news outlets in China were among those who aggressively reported on the coronavirus epidemic in January and February, including in its earliest days, when it was a regionalized outbreak in central China and the Chinese government sought to play down its severity.

Unfortunately, the only thing that China showed was how to create a crisis into a catastrophe, Xi Jinping failed on the “leadership” test for COVID – 19 and the propaganda scheme is a clear reminder of a worrying detachment from reality, an inability to distinguish between his own political interests and the national interest — that plague illiberal regimes.

Meral Musli Tajroska – Psychologist, Consultant on violent extremism and radicalization, activist for gender equality.

PROPAGANDA IN THE TIME OF CORONAVIRUS

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