In the corona crisis, China is turning the tables: the country that exported the virus all over the world suddenly wants to be the selfless benefactor. The regime is pursuing tangible plans with the lubrication piece. A comment by Merkur editor-in-chief Georg Anastasiadis.
It doesn't get brazen: the regime in Beijing wishes to be praised by German authorities for its "prudent corona management". We would like to know exactly what China is expecting thanks for. For carefully covering up the outbreak of the plague? For the fact that all emails from worried western virologists went unanswered for weeks? For the fact that countries that correctly banned entry from China at that time were threatened with serious consequences? For selling us millions of protective masks that turned out to be junk? Or that it used the distraction of the global public last week to let the democracy movement in Hong Kong have its head cut off? Well, thank you for that!
Coronavirus: China is so scary that it has to suppress the truth
China is a powerful country. But at the same time it is so fearful and weak that it believes it has to suppress the truth, because otherwise the party and its cadres could falter. For a long time, the West had hoped that China would take responsibility, the more it became part of the global production chains, that it adhered to rules and showed a minimum of partnership behavior. But hope was trough. The regime is increasingly narrow-minded, aggressive and nationalistic. Beijing is in an undeclared campaign of conquest, it is increasingly dictating its conditions - to the point that government agencies should manipulate public opinion in our Chinese interests.
Beijing even uses the self-inflicted virus pandemic as a weapon for its hybrid warfare against a weakened Europe. Disinformation campaigns and conspiracy theories are intended to portray its politicians as weak, while China itself wants to be perceived as a "benefactor" in order to make the public receptive to its wishes - especially for the establishment of the 5G networks by the state-owned company Huawei. Because that is Beijing's central short-term goal: to gain control over Europe's digital infrastructure.
Also read: Coronavirus Germany: Drosten with new theory - "If someone would give me free access to China ..."