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Source: https://www.vox.com/coronavirus-covi...ion-conspiracy
China reportedly lobbied the EU to dial down criticism of its Covid-19 disinformation campaigns
EU officials appear to have delayed and rewritten part of a report that worried Chinese diplomats.
By Zeeshan Aleem Apr 25, 2020, 6:30pm EDT
China has reportedly successfully lobbied European Union officials to rewrite and soften language in a new report criticizing Beijing for spreading disinformation around coronavirus.
According to reports in the New York Times and Politico, Chinese diplomats managed to persuade EU officials to scrap a reference to China running a “global disinformation” campaign, and also remove reference to Beijing’s criticism of the French response to the pandemic.
The final version of the report reads mildly: “Official and state-backed sources from various governments, including Russia and — to a lesser extent — China, have continued to widely target conspiracy narratives and disinformation.”
The lobbying campaign represents the latest instance of the Chinese government attempting to control narratives in order to defend its reputation, after failing to keep coronavirus within its borders and to properly alert other countries of the threat the new virus poses.
Recently, Chinese officials and news outlets have deliberately spread false information — most notably the conspiracy theory that the US Army introduced the novel coronavirus to Wuhan and started the pandemic itself.
China reportedly lobbied the EU to dial down criticism of its Covid-19 disinformation campaigns
EU officials appear to have delayed and rewritten part of a report that worried Chinese diplomats.
By Zeeshan Aleem Apr 25, 2020, 6:30pm EDT
China has reportedly successfully lobbied European Union officials to rewrite and soften language in a new report criticizing Beijing for spreading disinformation around coronavirus.
According to reports in the New York Times and Politico, Chinese diplomats managed to persuade EU officials to scrap a reference to China running a “global disinformation” campaign, and also remove reference to Beijing’s criticism of the French response to the pandemic.
The final version of the report reads mildly: “Official and state-backed sources from various governments, including Russia and — to a lesser extent — China, have continued to widely target conspiracy narratives and disinformation.”
The lobbying campaign represents the latest instance of the Chinese government attempting to control narratives in order to defend its reputation, after failing to keep coronavirus within its borders and to properly alert other countries of the threat the new virus poses.
Recently, Chinese officials and news outlets have deliberately spread false information — most notably the conspiracy theory that the US Army introduced the novel coronavirus to Wuhan and started the pandemic itself.
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