Of all the American news outlets that have acted recently as unofficial public relations firms for the Chinese Communist Party, the New York Times may be the worst.
On Wednesday, the New York Times published a report titled “Its Coronavirus Cases Dwindling, China Turns Focus Outward.”
Its subhead reads, “Beijing is mounting a humanitarian aid blitz in countries struggling with their own outbreaks. In doing so, it’s stepping into a role the West once dominated.”
It may be the most shameful piece of Chinese disinformation published by any newsroom in the United States since the COVID-19 outbreak first became a story.
The report, co-authored by New York Times Beijing bureau chief Steven Lee Myers (bet you did not see that coming), goes to great lengths to cast China as a thoughtful, meticulous, proactive, and responsible world leader whose contributions to fighting the pandemic it created make it a more reliable and responsible superpower compared to the U.S. The article parrots China’s claim that its daily coronavirus cases have dwindled “into the single digits.” No attempt is made to verify these numbers. The story also casts China’s absurd allegation that the U.S. military created the coronavirus pandemic as merely a clumsy attempt by Chinese officials to respond to criticism.
Worse than what the article says is what it does not say. The New York Times report makes no mention of the fact that China arrested and punished the whistleblowers who tried in 2019 to warn the international community about the virus. The report also fails to mention allegations that Chinese authorities forced scientists to destroy proof of the virus. For the New York Times, China’s failed attempts to cover up the pandemic it created are characterized simply as a “mishandling” of the outbreak.
Also, and this is especially macabre, the report goes on for a full 28 paragraphs before it reveals that China is selling its so-called humanitarian aid to countries such as Italy, which has suffered some of the worst fatality rates as a result of COVID-19’s spread.
Moreover, when the story does eventually get around to providing this fairly relevant piece of information, it does so by casting the issue as a “critics say” situation, meaning that instead of reporting on China’s duplicitous efforts to “help” infected counties, it downplays the issue by making it sound as if it is just the say-so of annoyed individuals.
The report’s 27th and 28th paragraphs read:
Many in Italy, for example, angrily pointed out that China was selling masks, respirators and other medical equipment, not donating them, and claimed that some of the materials were meant for Chinese citizens in the country.
This information should be verified, moved to the opening paragraphs, and made the entire focus of the report. Instead, it is buried and practically dismissed off-hand in favor of a narrative that casts China as the hero of the COVID-19 pandemic.
There is also this line in the New York Times report: “The state news media has also highlighted the chaos in Europe and the United States with something close to schadenfreude. People’s Daily cheered the news this week that the pace of infections and deaths overseas now exceeds that inside China.”
“Schadenfreude” is not the word I would have chosen.
Lastly, there is only a single mention in the entire report of China’s announcement this week that it will expel American journalists from China, Hong Kong, and Macau (it is not mentioned until the 24th paragraph). You would think a New York Times report on the Chinese Communist Party’s attempt to control the coronavirus narrative would include a few more details on China’s efforts to expel U.S. journalists, especially considering New York Times reporters are among those targeted for expulsion. Then again, perhaps the puff piece about China’s “humanitarian” efforts is a direct and none-too-subtle response to the expulsion decree.
With the media acting like this, who even needs the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China?
