Chinese state media publishes call for end to online attacks on Covid experts amid mounting criticism as cases surge
- Multiple outlets carried an article that took on critics of the current approach as well as those spreading a nationalist conspiracy theory that blames foreign forces
- China has dramatically dropped its draconian zero-Covid policies this month and the article defended the authorities’ handling of the situation
The article, published first by a former journalist known as Mingshuzatan on their personal WeChat account, was reprinted on the website of the Guangming Daily newspaper on December 24, before being picked up by a number of other major outlets.
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The piece directly addressed online opinion leaders, asking them to contribute positively in times of pandemic rather than filling the internet with criticism.
China pivoted away from zero-Covid earlier this month after using draconian controls to contain the virus for the past three years.
Medicines such as fever-reducing medication were also flying off the shelves while other emergency services such as blood banks also reported acute shortages.
China’s official narrative for the past three years has portrayed the Communist Party as the protector of the 1.4 billion population that shielded them from the lethal virus with methods such as mass testing, contact tracing, quarantine controls and domestically produced vaccines.
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The measures helped win time but carried astronomical costs in terms of the economic impact and rising social discontent.
In recent weeks influential online commentators and other net users have been criticising the government’s response and asking questions about why the country does not have adequate supplies of medication and has not approved the use of foreign mRNA vaccines, which have a higher efficacy rate.
“We shouldn’t adopt an overly simplistic mindset debating the merits of ‘zero-Covid’ and ‘opening up’, nor should we spread conspiracy theories in light of the policy adjustment,” the article said.
It went on to defend public health experts and attack their online critics, accusing them of taking their words out of context and speculating on their motives.
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“There is not one single expert, be it Zhong Nanshan, Zhang Wenhong or any one else, who is all-knowing like God. They could only make their best judgment for the public good of Chinese people and society based on what they knew at the time ,” it said.
Zhong is China’s leading expert on infectious respiratory diseases and Zhang is a Shanghai-based infectious diseases expert and both are household names in China.
It went on to lambast internet opinion leaders who had described experts as “liars and villains” or subscribed to a nationalistic conspiracy theory “suggesting China’s current struggle with the outbreak was staged by foreign hostile forces”.
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Instead of endless personal attacks and arguments, the article asked the opinion leaders to guide and inform the public rather than instil fear in them.
It added that they should be held accountable for the credibility bestowed on them by the public.
The article also hit out at various anti-US conspiracy theories about the dire situation in China.
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“This really is a sign of inadequate intelligence. Sino-US ties are in a bad shape but there is no need to link everything to the US.
