It's now well-established that the Covid-19 pandemic originated from Chinese city Wuhan. In just over two months, the disease spread to every inhabited continent, with China emerging as its epicenter. After its initial denial, China took widespread measures to deal with the epidemic, by placing several cities under complete lock-down and conducting large-scale testings. Along with the surge in the number of cases, a rise in Chinese propaganda was also seen throughout the virus outbreak.
China shaped WHO's narrative
From calling out countries for restricting those having traveled from China during the initial days of the disease outbreak to prolonging designating the disease a global health emergency and a pandemic, the world health body has appeared sensitive towards Chinese objections.
After initially calling the 'Wuhan virus', the disease was initially named 'novel coronavirus', followed by its official name 'Covid-19', WHO has made sure that the name doesn't reflect the disease's link with the Chinese city, where it's said to have originated.
As a matter of fact, the world health body seemed comfortable with Ebola, Nipah, Zika, West Nile fever, Japanese encephalitis, German measles -- all named after places of origin.
Conspiracy theories floated by Chinese diplomats, amplified by state media
As China has contained the initial virus outbreak and the West is struggling through the sudden surge in cases, Beijing is using the situation to gain an upper hand over its rivals. Prominent Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian claimed that the virus didn't originate in Wuhan, but was brought there by the US military.
The irony of the matter is that the Chinese state media has accused the US for 'lack of transparency'.
It also accused the US for playing 'the China card to divert domestic attention from a botched handling of the virus'.
