China is waging an information campaign on a number of fronts

Why did Europe and the US not take seriously what China-based reporters were writing about this virus in January and February? 

We are told constantly that we live in an information age and yet when information mattered most, it failed us. Or we failed it. Either way, most governments around the world, aside from in New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and a few other places, failed to take adequate heed of the reports from China from late January onward. Yes, it is true that China covered up the early outbreak and that the World Health Organization even in late February was still advising against the application of travel restrictions to countries hit by Covid-19. But, even so, the media coverage out of Asia was full of warnings from late January onward. So why did European countries and the US take scant notice? Is the mainstream media so discredited these days that people simply don’t trust it? Or has the social media mix of TikTok videos, Twitter storms and fake news so inured people to the tides of information that they shut it out? One day, when this all is passed, it may be time to be as discerning about the information we consume as we are about the food we eat.  

What do you make of the disinformation campaign that China is waging now? 

China is waging an information campaign on a number of fronts with disinformation - the deliberate spreading of falsehoods with the intention to deceive - being only one of the tactics deployed. The most famous example of disinformation was the tweet by Zhao Lijian, a foreign ministry spokesman, who suggested that the US army brought the epidemic to Wuhan. There has never been a scrap of evidence offered to back up such a claim, yet Mr Zhao has not withdrawn his statement. 

The information campaign being waged is new in both intensity and scope. One of its most interesting features is the use of “wolf warrior” diplomats such as Mr Zhao. The Chinese embassy in Paris this month accused French nursing home workers of abandoning their jobs and “allowing residents to die of hunger and illness”. Hu Zhaoming, a Communist party spokesman, tweeted in response to President Trump’s suggestion that disinfectant could be used against the virus: “Mr. President is right. Some people do need to be injected with #disinfectant, or at least gargle with it. That way they won't spread the virus, lies and hatred when talking.” 

These are just two of many examples of a new, harder edge in China’s information projection. The aim seems to be to counter western narratives that have sprung up during the pandemic or at least sow enough confusion among people that anti-China narratives are diluted. But there could be bigger aims too. It may be that Beijing is signaling a fundamental rift in its relations with the west.  

How do you assess the credibility gap that China faces in getting its message across and what will be the consequence? 

Beijing’s pandemic information campaign has been counterproductive from the perspective of China’s soft power standing in the west. The EU mentioned Chinese disinformation in an internal memo seen by the media this month. The discipline and delicate calibrations that have characterized Chinese diplomacy during most of the past four decades appears to have been jettisoned in favor of vituperative nationalism. But we should be clear that this is no aberration; such undiplomatic diplomacy would not be allowed to flourish without the support of Xi Jinping, the president. 

This interview was published in the issue of the MERICS Update from April 30th.