Western leaders shouldn’t be duped by China’s attempt to turn the coronavirus pandemic into an opportunity for Beijing to gain international influence at the expense of the West, according to the European Union’s top diplomat.
“There is a global battle of narratives going on in which timing is a crucial factor,” EU High Representative Josep Borrell wrote in a bulletin to his colleagues in the bloc. “We must be aware there is a geopolitical component including a struggle for influence through spinning and the ‘politics of generosity.’”
Chinese officials have tried to cast doubt on the origins of the coronavirus in recent weeks while touting the effectiveness of their containment tactics. Senior officials have tried to accuse the United States of seeding the contagion in Wuhan, where the novel coronavirus first emerged, but Chinese state-run media outlets have begun to suggest it began in Italy as the outbreak worsens in Europe — drawing criticism of China’s shifting narratives from Borrell.
“In January, the dominant framing was of this being a local crisis in Hubei province, aggravated by the cover up of crucial information by Chinese party officials,” Borrell wrote.
That comment recalled how Chinese President Xi Jinping acknowledged “obvious shortcomings” in the way communist leaders in Hubei province responded to the nascent outbreak. The mayor of Wuhan blamed national party leaders in Beijing for his failure to sound an early alarm, but Xi shifted the fault back to Hubei officials in a rare defense of his actions.
“China is aggressively pushing the message that, unlike the US, it is a responsible and reliable partner,” Borrell wrote. “In the battle of narratives we have also seen attempts to discredit the EU as such and some instances where Europeans have been stigmatized as if all were carriers of the virus.”
The EU official’s message is inconvenient for Chinese officials, who have invoked Borrell and other European leaders when possible while criticizing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other U.S. officials for referring to the new infectious disease as the “Wuhan virus” or “Chinese virus.”
“I wish certain people in the US could heed the reasonable voice at home and from the international community and stop making wrongful remarks that stigmatize China,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang told reporters Tuesday. “The top priority for the U.S. should be focusing on keeping their own house in order and working with China and the international community to contribute to the global fight against the pandemic.”
Borrell emphasized that the aid China is providing to some European nations comes weeks after European allies provided aid to China, even though when the communist regime has hidden the truth about the outbreak.
