China changes virus narrative in bid to salvage soft power

"This is a change of narrative to say people should not blame China for the spread of the coronavirus, and China has handled the epidemic much better than other countries. It is also a move to bolster Xi Jinping's authority."

Until a fortnight ago, it was widely reported in China's state media that the COVID-19 outbreak likely started in the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan. That market was closed in early January.

At the time, the China Daily newspaper said in an article headlined "Prompt action arrests spread of virus" that the market was "believed to be the source of the virus". Gao Fu, director of the Chinese centre for disease control and prevention, told a press conference on January 20 that the authorities believed the virus likely came from wild animals at the seafood market, although the exact source was unclear.

The turning point was on February 27 when Zhong Nanshan, a high-profile scientist heading the government's panel of experts overseeing efforts to contain the epidemic, told a press conference that “the coronavirus first appeared in China but may not have originated in China". His remark opened the gates to an outpouring of anti-American commentary on China's social media platforms which suggested COVID-19 came from the US.

Since then, China's powerful propaganda apparatus has been working overtime to sell the message that the coronavirus is not China's fault, the government has done a great job containing the outbreak and the rest of the world should be grateful it can benefit from China's "sacrifice".

"Although the epidemic first broke out in China, it did not necessarily mean that the virus originated from China, let alone "made in China", China's ambassador to South Africa Lin Songtian tweeted on Sunday.

This is technically correct. Scientists have been unable to confirm the precise origin of the coronavirus, although the first known cases were from people who had visited or were working at the market. The World Health Organisation has confirmed this, but says in a February 25 report that "an animal source had not yet been identified". China has since permanently banned the trade of wild animals as food.

The point, though, is not about the precise origin of the coronavirus but the central government's efforts to deflect criticism that it is to blame for the fact that authorities in Wuhan failed to report the seriousness of the health crisis for those crucial weeks in January before millions left the city for Chinese New Year.

China's track record of rewriting history means that this fact will probably never be known by future generations - in the same way many in the country today are unaware of the massacre of students in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

It also suits China's narrative that the rest of the world is now grappling to contain the epidemic at a time when it appears to have things under control. The smugness of some of the commentary about difficulties the United States and South Korea are having containing the outbreak is disturbing.

It is true, though, that the Chinese government has made an all-out effort to contain the outbreak. It locked down entire cities and imposed heavy-handed travel restrictions. China reported only 40 news cases on Monday, of which 36 were in Wuhan.

While these measures would be hard for democracies like Australia to enforce, there are important lessons all countries can learn from China's response to the outbreak.

Misleading and deceptive statements by governments about the coronavirus also work both ways. In the United States, Republican Senator Tom Cotton has led the conspiracy theory charge by asserting that the coronavirus is a man-made disease from a Wuhan laboratory.

Whether the rest of the world swallows the story about China's victory over coronavirus is less than important than what its 1.4 billion citizens believe. The reaction on social media to comments from Wang Zhonglin, the Communist Party's top official in Wuhan, last week highlighted the pent-up anger among the tens of millions of people who have been cooped up in their homes for six weeks.

Wang suggested launching "gratitude education" for the people of Wuhan so they could express their thanks to Xi Jinping.

This did not go down well and his comments, reported in local media initially, were later deleted.

"Anyone who feels sorry for Wuhan will not say this. The city was caught unprepared and they couldnt't handle the explosive growth of the virus. The last thing we need is to educated to be grateful," a prominent Chinese journalist wrote on social media in a comment that had millions of hits.

Despite an earlier backlash, in most of the country there are already signs that Xi will emerge from this as a hero.