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Why China’s coronavirus response has fuelled hostility in the West
- Pew survey results from 14 nations were largely negative about Beijing’s handling of the pandemic, but at home it’s a different story
- The disparity shows how the propaganda machine has been successful within the country, but a ‘relative failure’ abroad, observers say
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For Beijing, its successful coronavirus response was a shining example in the global pandemic fight. But for many of the world’s most advanced economies, the prevailing view has been that China handled the outbreak poorly, hardening attitudes towards the country that were already souring.
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The Pew Research Centre on Tuesday published surveys from 14 countries – Australia, Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, the US, South Korea, Spain, Japan, Italy, France, Denmark, Belgium and Canada – that were largely negative on Beijing’s handling of the virus, which was first reported in the central city of Wuhan late last year.
While respondents gave lower marks to the US for its response, a median of 61 per cent said China had done a poor job in dealing with the outbreak.
“Pew found the assessment of the US is the worst, but China is the second-worst,” said a mainland-based Chinese politics professor, who declined to be named.
“The narratives about the Chinese government’s initial cover-ups and other mistakes are too strong. On the other hand, China’s public relations capabilities are still very weak.”
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