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WUHAN: China is recasting Wuhan as a heroic coronavirus victim and trying to cast doubt on the origin story of the pandemic as it aims to take over the narrative at a time of growing global mistrust of Beijing.
The public relations bombardment is manifested daily in comments by Chinese officials and lavish state media coverage of a “reborn” Wuhan that heralds China’s efforts to control the epidemic and economic recovery as the United States struggles. .
The campaign peaked last week when Chinese elementary schools welcomed students with considerable fanfare and Wuhan hosted executives from dozens of multinationals, from Panasonic to Dow to Nokia, on a highly choreographed tour of the central city of China.
Chinese primary schools have welcomed students with much fanfare recently, including in Wuhan AFP / Hector RETAMAL
“There are few places in the world today where you don’t need a mask and it can be assembled,” a Chinese official, Lin Songtian, told executives, hinting that Wuhan was one of those places.
“This testifies to Wuhan’s triumph over the virus and that (the city) is back in business.”
No local transmission of coronavirus has been reported for months in Wuhan, where many activities have resumed AFP / Hector RETAMAL
However, this count misses the belief that a wet market in Wuhan is ground zero for the pandemic.
China’s foreign minister suggested on August 28 during a European outreach trip that the virus might not have emerged in China.
The momentum indicates that China recognizes the damage of COVID-19 to its brand and wants to leverage its relatively successful recovery to counter mounting international challenges, analysts said.
China faces foreign bitterness over the virus and an initial cover-up attempt by Wuhan officials, in addition to criticism of Beijing’s increasingly strict control over Hong Kong and a generally more aggressive international stance.
“Beijing wants the narrative to be: We handle it, we can help you handle it, and (hopefully) we’ll be the first to have a vaccine that works,” said Kelsey Broderick, Asia analyst at Eurasia Group.
“That’s really the only way that China can get ahead of the idea that a wet market in Wuhan started this crisis.”
“ABSOLUTELY SURE”
America’s faltering response to the pandemic offers a clear opening, said Yun Jiang, director of the China Policy Center at the Australian National University.
“The fact that the United States is not only not doing enough, but is actually doing things that go against American interests, is a great help to China,” he said.
The three-day Wuhan tour also included foreign media and ended on Saturday.
It featured elementary school students performing traditional Chinese opera and ballet, a revamped food market portrayed as a model of sanitation, and a cruise along the banks of the Yangtze River below a burning skyline with towering light displays referencing the recovery of the virus.
The city of 11 million, which suffered more than 80 percent of the 4,634 Covid-19 deaths in China, has come a long way since the gloomy early days of the pandemic, when a sweltering shutdown of weeks turned it into a ghost town. .
No new local broadcasts have been reported in months, traffic jams are back, shoppers crowd malls, and al fresco diners gobble up the city’s spicy crawfish dish.
Face masks are either hung around the neck or dropped entirely.
The growing confidence was on display at a Wuhan pool party attended by thousands of unmasked people last month, prompting overseas accusations of recklessness after footage from the event went viral.
China responded that the party indicated the nation’s success in taming the coronavirus.
“What risks can there be?” Wuhan factory worker Xie Ailiang asked while speaking to AFP.
“I think that now Wuhan should be absolutely safe.”
Wuhan, a city of 11 million inhabitants, suffered more than 80 percent of deaths from Covid-19 in China AFP / Hector RETAMAL
“WINTER IS COMING”
But not everyone is taking a victory lap.
Many Wuhan citizens express persistent concern over an uneven recovery and fear of further outbreaks.
“The economy has really declined. The benefit of even coming to work is questionable,” said Yi Xinhua, 51, who sells tofu from his stall in a Wuhan wet market.
The tofu blocks were ordered by shape and size, but there are few buyers; Yi says its sales are only half the pre-pandemic level.
It’s a common complaint in Wuhan, attributed by many business owners to the persistent fear of going out in public and the widely expressed belief that millions of people who fled the city at the start of the pandemic have yet to return.
Wuhan employers complain online that the exodus has also reduced the local workforce.
And memories of a later virus cluster in May, which triggered a citywide effort to test millions, remain fresh.
“Everyone is afraid that the epidemic will return, you know? Summer is over and winter is coming,” Yi said.
Despite the strong recovery, some in Wuhan have expressed fear of new outbreaks and an uneven recovery AFP / Hector RETAMAL
“We have recovered a bit. But if the virus returns, we will attack again.”
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