China and Covid19
CCTV New Year’s Gala 2020: Highlights and Must-Knows (Liveblog)
What is Chinese New Year without the CCTV Spring Gala? What’s on Weibo reports the must-knows of the 2020 ‘Chunwan.’
Published
3 years agoon
Chinese social media is dominated by two topics today: the CCTV New Year Gala (Chunwan) and the outbreak of the coronavirus. Watch the livestream of the CCTV Gala here, and we will keep you updated with tonight’s highlights and must-knows as we will add more information to this post throughout the night. (This liveblog is now closed.) [Premium content]
As the Year of the Rat is just around the corner, millions of people in China and beyond are starting the countdown to the Chinese New Year by watching the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, commonly abbreviated in Chinese as Chunwan (春晚).
The role of social media in watching the event has become increasingly important throughout the years, with topics relating to the Chunwan becoming trending days before.
Making fun of the show and criticizing it is part of the viewer’s experience, although the hashtag used for these kinds of online discussions (such as “Spring Festival Gala Roast” #春晚吐槽#) are sometimes blocked.
The Gala starts at 20.00 China Central Time on January 24. Follow live on Youtube here, or see CCTV livestreaming here.
About the CCTV New Year’s Gala
Since its very first airing in 1983, the Spring Festival Gala has captured an audience of millions. In 2010, the live Gala had a viewership of 730 million; in 2014, it had reached a viewership of 900 million, and in 2019, over a billion people watched the Gala on TV and online, making the show much bigger in terms of viewership than, for example, the Super Bowl.
The show lasts a total of four hours, and has around 30 different acts, from dance to singing and acrobatics. The acts that are both most-loved and most-dreaded are the comic sketches (小品) and crosstalk (相声); they are usually the funniest, but also convey the most political messages.
As viewer ratings of the CCTV Gala in the 21st century have skyrocketed, so has the critique on the show – which seems to be growing year-on-year.
According to many viewers, the spectacle generally is often “way too political” with its display of communist nostalgia, including the performance of different revolutionary songs such as “Without the Communist Party, There is No New China” (没有共产党就没有新中国).
To take a look at what was going on during the Spring Gala’s previous shows, also see how What’s on Weibo covered this event in 2016, in 2017, in 2018, and in 2019.
Live updates
Check for some live updates below. (We might be quiet every now and then, but if you leave this page open you’ll hear a ping when we add a new post). (Update: Live blog closed)
Happy New Year Wishes from Wuhan People’s Hospital
[Jan 24 / 17:30 CST]
Medical staff at the dedicated isolation ward of Wuhan’s People’s Hospital wish everyone a Happy New Year, saying: “We’re here, don’t worry [and celebrate Spring Festival]” – a hashtag that’s now propagated online to ease the #coronavirus panic. #有我们在大家安心过年
Medical staff at the dedicated isolation ward of Wuhan’s People’s Hospital wish everyone a Happy New Year, saying: “We’re here, don’t worry [and celebrate Spring Festival]” – a hashtag that’s now propagated online to ease the #coronavirus panic. #有我们在大家安心过年 pic.twitter.com/byWLd8DJ1i
— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) January 24, 2020
Director of the Gala: Yang Dongsheng
[Jan 24 / 17:57 CST]
This year’s director is Yang Dongsheng (杨东升) from Guangdong (see picture below), who also directed the Gala in 2017 and 2018. With Avatar-like settings for dance and singing acts in 2017, spectacular light and dance show in 2018, we can also expect tonight’s show to be colorful and big.
Jiayou Wuhan, Jiayou China!
[Jan 24 / 19:57 CST]
In the ten minutes leading up to the CCTV Gala, it is clear that the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan is not a news topic that will be ignored tonight.
The presenters have a strong message showing their support to the patients and people in Wuhan and beyond, saying: “Jiayou Wuhan, Jiayou China!” – Come on Wuhan! Come on China!
It just started and the first memes are here
[Jan 24 / 20:10 CST]
The first act has only just completed and already there are memes going around Chinese social media, comparing the dancers in the act to Chinese cabbages..
Time to have a “live look” inside the main hospital in Wuhan!
[Jan 24 / 20:40 CST]
A special moment during the CCTV Gala as the show switched to one of Wuhan’s main hospitals right now to get an update from the nurses there who are spending their Chinese New Year night taking care of the many people infected with the coronavirus.
According to the presenter, the switch was “very last minute.”
The presenters also take this time to thank all of those people sacrificing their time and energy to take care of the ill.
Global Times editor Hu Xijin also posted about the “last minute” Wuhan segment, and praised it for communicating the feelings and worries of Chinese people.
“Who has been eating wild game?!”
[Jan 24 / 20:44 CST]
With the outbreak of the coronavirus, the eating of wild game has been severely criticized on Weibo these days. This meme of the sketch performed by actor Yue Yunpeng (岳云鹏) during tonight’s Gala says: “Let’s see which idiot still dares to eat wild game?!”
Read more about the backlash against wild game eating here.
Some people only think about food during Chinese New Year…
[Jan 24 / 20:53 CST]
We already said that this CCTV Gala, directed by Yang Dongsheng, would be a colorful one. For some viewers, the dance performance set up at the start of this night just looks like food.
[Jan 24 / 21:03 CST]
#春晚历史上首次没有彩排的片段#
[Jan 24 / 21:18 CST]
As the night continues, people on Weibo are still talking about the segment in the show that cut to the Wuhan hospital. For the first time since 1983, the CCTV Gala included a segment that was not rehearsed. The topic is making its way around social media under the hashtag “For the first time in history, the CCTV Gala airs unrehearsed segment” (#春晚历史上首次没有彩排的片段#).
How much is live?
[Jan 24 / 21:45 CST]
Although this Gala is a live broadcast from CCTV’s No.1 Studio in Beijing, combined with broadcasting from different other venues (this year: Guangdong, HK, Zhengzhou, Macao). every year’s show has a taped version of the full dress rehearsal. The tape runs together with the live broadcast, so that in the event of a problem or disruption, the producers can seamlessly switch to the taped version without TV audiences noticing anything.
Because of the outbreak of the coronavirus, Beijing seems to be the only location that is actually aired live tonight, with the other locations using pre-recorded versions.
What’s tonight’s theme?
[Jan 24 / 21:53 CST]
Every year, the CCTV Gala has a different theme. Sometimes, these themes are very clear, such as the “Chinese Dream” in 2016, or “National Unity” in 2017.
This year marked the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, and the Gala seems to have an umbrella theme capturing issues such as the celebration of 70 years ‘New China,’ the fight against poverty, unity among all languages and ethnic groups within China, and China’s important role in international society (especially marked by the first act, showing dancing and performances from different One Belt, One Road countries).
2020, I Love You
[Jan 24 / 21:53 CST]
This catchy poppy song is called “Hello 2020″(你好2020), performed by various artists.
Stunning Dance “Morning Light”
[Jan 24 / 22:02 CST]
This is one of the dance performances of tonight, called “Morning Light” and led by Zhu Jiejing. The performance is by the Shanghai Song and Dance Troupe. Zhu Jiejing was born in October, 1985 in Jiaxing of Zhejiang Province. She won a top award for dance in China.
Kuaishou x CCTV Gala
[Jan 24 / 22:06 CST]
Tonight’s show is done in cooperation with Kuaishou, a hugely popular Chinese video sharing app. The CCTV Gala usually has different social media and/or online partners – which usually means a boost for these online platforms.
“My Motherland”
[Jan 24 / 22:32 CST]
The inevitable patriotic song “My Motherland” is here, including a segment with the 90-year-old singer Guo Lanying (郭兰英).
BUT WHERE ARE THE DANCING ROBOTS?!
This is Guo Lanying singing the song for the first time at the Chunwan in her younger years, 30 years ago:
Spectacular footage from Zhengzhou
[Jan 24 / 23:03 CST]
We’re moving to one of the venues outside of Beijing – this is one of the prerecorded segments including piano play by the renowned Lang Lang, followed up with a song by Sun Nan (孙楠) and Li Yuchun (李宇春).
Meanwhile on Weibo
[Jan 24 / 23:04 CST]
Seen on Weibo: running out of proper face protection masks, these medical workers are using file folders to make their own face masks. #coronarovirus pic.twitter.com/gHtbAkHeu7
— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) January 24, 2020
Mixed feelings: CoronaVirus and Chunwan share the Weibo stage
[Jan 24 / 23:18 CST]
On Weibo, there are many netizens sharing their mixed feelings about tonight and going on social media, with some posts being about the CCTV Gala and happiness, and the others being about the situation in Wuhan and the despair. “I am laughing and crying,” some write.
[Jan 24 / 23:39 CST]
On Weibo, @HuXijin_GT posted some of the photos that are now being shared of the army coming in to offer (medical) help amidst #coronavirus outbreak. Many people on Weibo address their mixed feelings: happiness over #Chinesenewyear, worry and fear over the Wuhan situation. pic.twitter.com/6YVmA3GHkL
— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) January 24, 2020
A ‘Yellow River’ of humans
[Jan 24 / 23:47 CST]
Chunwan and Coronavirus: stark contrast night
[Jan 24 / 23:52 CST]
While Miranda and Manya are watching the CCTV Gala and keeping an eye on social media developments, editor-in-chief Manya just joined BBC World News to briefly address the current social media developments regarding the coronavirus outbreak. See embedded tweet below.
In between watching the #CCTVGala and staying glued to Weibo, I just joined BBC World News live to comment on the social media environment in China during the #coronavirus outbreak. Segment of interview 👇 pic.twitter.com/dzwzI8zYnm
— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) January 24, 2020
Will tonight’s show break viewership records (again)?
[Jan 25 / 00:24 CST]
Over the past few years, the number of people watching the CCTV Gala has increased because of the many people watching the event via online platforms. Youtube is one of the platforms outside of China where the event is being livestreamed, and where over 105,000 people are joining.
Together with the traditional TV audiences, the CCTV online viewership, and the total number of people watching via other apps, will tonight’s show cross the one billion record again?
If you’re not watching the #cctvgala livestream on YouTube: there’s over 105,000 people watching this right now and the chat is going crazy. pic.twitter.com/vGCENUZ7dM
— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) January 24, 2020
Wear your facemask
[Jan 25 / 00:26 CST]
Just before the end of the show, a public service announcement reminds viewers to wear a face mask in times of the Corona virus outbreak.
It’s a wrap
[Jan 25 / 00:59 CST]
It’s a wrap for tonight, so we will close our updates here, but stay tuned the coming days and weeks as we will keep a finger on the pulse of everything happening on Chinese social media and online discussions regarding the Chinese New Year travel season and the outbreak of the coronavirus. Thanks for joining, and a Happy New Year of the Rat!
By Manya Koetse and Miranda Barnes
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Also Read
China and Covid19
Chinese Tourism Bureau Chiefs Go Viral for Trying Really, Really Hard to Attract More Post-Covid Domestic Tourists
It’s a Culture & Tourism Bureau social media battle: China’s local tourist offices are fighting to go viral to attract more visitors.
Published
3 weeks agoon
March 9, 2023Hoping to attract more domestic tourists in the post-Covid-era, Chinese local government officials are trying really hard to promote their hometowns. Various tourism bureau chiefs from across China are going viral on Weibo, Douyin, and beyond for dressing up in traditional outfits and creating original videos with low to zero budget.
Another local Chinese tourism bureau chief went viral today – it’s an entire trend by itself. Tourist department offices under several local governments in China are trying really hard to promote their hometowns these days in hopes of attracting more domestic tourists in China’s post-Covid era.
Government officials are showing their best side – and their most creative one – on social media to convince tourists to visit their region. In doing so, these local bureau chiefs have been attracting online attention for appearing in promo videos in various creative ways (#为了让你去玩儿文旅局长们能有多拼#).
Since early 2020, China’s tourism industry has been heavily impacted by the pandemic and China’s strict Covid measures and lockdowns. At various moments during the pandemic, China’s domestic tourism saw an increase in holiday bookings as tourists still wanted to travel but could not easily travel abroad.
Now that China has lifted blockades on foreign travel, the post-zero-Covid itch to travel is back in full swing. As travel to other countries is seeing a boom again (while tourist visas to mainland China are still halted), local tourist offices are doing all they can with a minimal budget to encourage domestic travel to their lovely hometowns.
The trend of China’s tourist bureau chiefs finding innovative ways to promote their regions or towns via social media has been going on for some time already, but it wasn’t until recently that they really gained nationwide attention for their efforts.
The recent viral trend is not only generating more attention for the specific towns and regions promoted in the videos, it is also bringing more recognition for the drive of China’s Culture & Tourism Bureau chiefs – officials who usually rarely get the limelight. Many Chinese netizens agree that it must take a lot of talent and creativity to become a local tourism bureau chief nowadays.
1. TOURISM BUREAU DIRECTOR OF ZHAOSU COUNTY (XINJIANG)
Riding a horse through a windy snowy country, He Jiaolong (贺娇龙) was the first local official to feature in a social media video to promote the Yili region. The video of the vice-county head of Zhaosu, all dressed up, went viral in the winter of 2020.
Chief He later told reporters that she did not expect the video to go as viral as it did. According to Shine, He Jiaolong said: “I invited two horse lovers to help us promote local tourism on social media. We borrowed the costume from a local art troupe. They posted my horse-riding videos on Douyin and received enthusiastic responses.”
A ‘behind the scenes’ video later published on Douyin showed He falling over and battling the cold during the filming, only making the local official more popular for her dedication.
2. TOURISM BUREAU DIRECTOR OF SUIZHOU (HUBEI)
In October of 2022, Xie Wei (解伟), director of the Suizhou Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism in Hubei province, made headlines for his performance in videos produced and directed by himself.
As reported by South China Post, Xie made the videos himself because the local tourism bureau did not have the budget for a professional production. Although the videos made by Xie went viral, they also received some criticism because of how Xie was role-playing and dressing up as an ancient knight.
Nevertheless, Xie Wei did breathe new life into this creative approach to destination marketing, inspiring other Culture and Tourism Bureaus across China to take a similar social media strategy and join on the battleground to win over the hearts of domestic travelers.
3. TOURISM BUREAU DIRECTOR OF TIBETAN AUTONOMOUS PREFECTURE
In February of 2023, it was the bureau chief of the Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture Tourism Office, Liu Hong (@甘孜刘洪), who went viral with various videos featuring him in traditional clothing, which earned him the nickname of “most handsome bureau chief” (“最帅局长”).
It was not the first time for Liu to star in his own tourism promotion video, as there was another video in 2022 in which he also did some cosplay to promote the Garze region (Sichuan).
Liu Hong is now known as one of China’s “celebrity tourism bureau chiefs” (网红文旅局长). The videos actually helped to promote the region but also turned Liu into a celebrity.
4. TOURISM BUREAU DIRECTOR OF DAWU COUNTY (SICHUAN)
On February 10 of 2023, it was the Cultural Tourism Bureau chief Jiangze Duoji (@降泽多吉) of Dawu County who professionalized the social media video trend and featured in a super slick 3-minute video with beautfiul shots and a creative idea.
In the intro of the video, Jiangze Duoji speaks English when he talks about his life question of “Who am I?” The video then shows the local official dancing in an astronaut’s costume in Moshi Park, one of the area’s most beautiful scenic spots that will make you feel like you’re in outer space.
The local official is then dressed as a Tang emperor at the Daowu dwellings, moves on to be a an old painter in the Yuke grasslands and King Gasar while galloping over the Longdeng prairie.
The video did not just go viral, it was also promoted by several state media outlets, making it among the most famous videos in this list. It’s also on Youtube here.
5. TOURISM BUREAU DIRECTOR OF TAHE COUNTY (HEILONGJIANG)
On February 27, the Heilongjiang Tahe Culture and Tourism Bureau (Daxing’anling prefecture) released a video in which a team of 34 people simulated a rocket launch in the snow.
Du Bo (都波), director of the Tahe County Bureau of Culture and Tourism, told reporters that the decision to shoot the video like this was made during lunch, with the position plan drawn out on a napkin.
With this original video, the local tourist office literally took the social media battle to another level (#塔河县文旅局长卷出新高度#). But Du Bo also stated that other tourist offices in China should not hold back and be scared to join the social media battle, saying they were all in this together to recover China’s domestic tourism industry (“不要怕卷,这种卷是一件好事,大家凝聚在一起,共同期待文旅行业的复苏”).
The tourist office also released a second video that gained popularity online, featuring a ‘snow queen’ in beautiful snowy landscape.
6. TOURISM BUREAU DIRECTOR OF MEISHAN (SICHUAN)
This video, which premiered late February of 2023, is also professionally made, with the Meishan Tourism Office taking the video trend very seriously.
The bureau chief demonstrates the beauty of kung fu in this short film, which also received many thumbs up on social media (#文旅局长用功夫带你游眉山#).
7. TOURISM BUREAU DIRECTOR OF GAOPING (SHANXI)
On March 7, a video from the tourist office in Gaoping, a county-level city in Shanxi’s Jincheng, also went viral on Chinese social media as “yet another tourist office chief joining the war” (#又一文旅局长申请出战#).
The video shows the local tourist bureau chief “going to war” in traditional costume to promote Gaoping as the hometown of Emperor Yan (#文旅局长戏服代言炎帝故里#).
8: TOURISM BUREAU DIRECTOR OF HUANGGANG (HUBEI)
The video posted on social media ‘on behalf of’ the Tourism Bureau of Huanggang, Hubei, also attracted a lot of attention online since many people believed the cosplaying bureau chief had suddenly turned into a handsome young idol.
It later turned out that this video was actually not an official one and was posted on social media without the permission of the tourist office by enthusiastic locals.
9. TOURISM BUREAU DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF SUQIAN (JIANGSU)
The hashtag is “Jiangsu’s Culture and Tourist Office Bureau Chief Joins the Battle” (#江苏文旅局长卷起来了#). Liu Bing (刘冰), the deputy director of the Tourism and Culture Bureau in Suqian, Jiangsu, is another local official who is going viral these days for his appearance in a self-produced promo video on social media (#江苏一文旅局长变装项羽代言家乡#).
In the video, Liu Bing is dressed as Xiang Yu (项羽), Hegemon-King of Western Chu, to endorse Suqian tourism. Suqian is the hometown of Xiang Yu (232–202 BC), who is considered one of the greatest military leaders in ancient China.
Although Suqian is one of the later Tourism Bureau hypes to join the hype, the video – published on March 9 – is still welcomed by netizens and is actually putting some pressure on other Chinese cities and regions to come up with their own videos featuring their own historical local heroes.
10. TOURISM BUREAU STAFF OF FUJIAN
Fujian might be a bit late in “going to war” and joining the social media battle between the Chinese Tourism and Culture Bureau chiefs, its new video (March 9) obviously took a lot of effort, as it features different members of staff in various tourist spots in Fujian province.
The hashtag “Fujian Culture and Tourism Bureau Joins the Battle” (#福建的文旅局长卷起来了#) circulated on Thursday, attracting nearly five million views on Weibo in one day.
By Manya Koetse
with contributions by Miranda Barnes
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China and Covid19
Chinese Online Discussions on the Origins of Covid-19 after FBI Statement on Wuhan Lab Leak
After the FBI suggested it is likely that Covid-19 originated in a Wuhan lab, commentator Hu Xijin posted about “the United States of Rumors.”
Published
3 weeks agoon
March 4, 2023Is it a political issue or a scientific problem? The recent FBI statements on the origin of Covid-19 have brought the lab leak theory back on the table and, once again, triggered political blameshifting and online discussions about the roots of the pandemic.
Over three years since Covid-19 was first discovered in Wuhan and was linked to the local Huanan Seafood Market, the debate on the roots of the Covid-19 pandemic is still ongoing and has again made headlines this week as FBI director Christopher Wray endorsed a theory that the Covid pandemic was a result of a laboratory leak in China.
Wray’s remarks came after a Wall Street Journal report about an updated classified intelligence report from the United States Department of Energy. That report concluded that the pandemic probably – with “low-confidence” assessment – started with an unintentional lab leak in Wuhan.
China’s Foreign Ministry responded to the issue during a regular press conference earlier this week, blaming the Americans for using the problem regarding the origins of SARS‑CoV‑2 (the strain of coronavirus that causes Covid-19) for “political manipulation” (“政治操弄”). Spokesperson Mao Ning (毛宁) also said that the claims lacked credibility and were simply politicizing the issue instead of taking a scientific approach.
LAB LEAK THEORIES
“Although many lab leak conspiracy theories started in the U.S., some also began on the Chinese internet.”
Over the past years, discussions over the origins of SARS-CoV-2 have become increasingly politicized and both American and Chinese sides have pointed the finger at each other and shifted blame for the spread of the virus and the pandemic response on both sides.
Speculations, rumors, and theories that Covid-19 may have emerged from a laboratory in Wuhan were first raised in early 2020. Although many of these lab leak conspiracy theories started in the U.S., some also began on the Chinese internet.
In February of 2020, a rumor circulated on Chinese social media that a postgraduate named Yanling Huang from the high-security lab Wuhan Institute of Virology was the “Patient Zero” of Covid-19 (Wang et al 2021, 73). This was determined to be false, and other similar rumors making their rounds were also refuted and sidelined as a “conspiracy theory” by many scientists.1
A statement in The Lancet published in February of 2020 condemned any rumors on the virus origins, claiming that scientific research “overwhelmingly” concludes that the new coronavirus originated in wildlife.
The World Health Organization (WHO) research team investigating the origins of Covid-19, and which visited China in January of 2021, also called it “extremely unlikely” that the virus leaked from a lab in China. At the same time, all hypotheses on the origin of the virus remained on the table, and later on in 2021, the debate intensified after American President Biden called for a next phase study into the origins of the virus.
Dr. Fauci, director of the American National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, had been among scientists who originally refuted the ‘lab leak’ theory, but in May of 2021, he changed his tune and said he was “no longer convinced” that the Covid-19 pandemic originated naturally.
The Chinese official side has consistently refuted claims that Covid-19 might have come from a Chinese laboratory leak, saying it is all about “political manipulation” and “blame shifting.”
China’s Foreign Ministry has turned the tables on the U.S. multiple times, demanding a thorough investigation into the source of the epidemic in the United States and a further probe into safety concerns at Fort Detrick and other American biological labs.
COVID-19 ORIGINS: HARDER TO TRACE
“The Covid-19 origin debate remains to be both a political and a scientific conundrum.”
Important keys to the SARS-CoV-2 origin question seem caught in a web of strategic narratives, political games, and colored perspectives.
Despite the recent U.S. Department of Energy report, there is still consensus among scientists – supported by a substantial body of research – that SARS-CoV-2 is of zoonotic origin, although the specific animal host has not been identified.
A study published in Science in July of 2022 concludes that SARS-Cov-2 most likely jumped from animals to humans at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market back in December 2019 (Worobey et al 2022).
Other recent studies that have come out on the research surrounding the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic argue that the complexity of the virus and the lack of harmonious international cooperation are making it harder to draw definite conclusions. Since the research requires international data from 2019 and is time-sensitive, the delays are also making it more tricky to identify the source of SARS-CoV-2 (see Hao et al 2022, 3189-3190).
The official Chinese stance (August 2021) is that the virus is of zoonotic origin and that China supports scientific research into the sources of the virus, as long as this does not become a political tool. The Chinese side also stresses that the fact that the virus was first discovered in Wuhan does not mean that the “Patient Zero” was also in Wuhan, as some studies indicate that there were positive Covid-19 cases before December 2019 in America, Brazil, and Italy (Hao et al 2022, 3185-3186).
In May of 2022, Chinese researchers published a blood-donors study analyzing samples supplied to the Wuhan Blood Center before December 2019, researching if there were SARS-Cov-2 antibodies in the blood provided between Sept-Dec of that year. That study reportedly did not find antibodies amid over 88,000 samples, showing the virus was not widespread in Wuhan in late 2019 (Chang et al 2023; Mallapaty 2023).
With so many questions left unanswered, a second phase study by the WHO into the origins of Covid-19 was much-anticipated. But it recently became known that the WHO shelved this investigation. According to Nature, the stalling of the research relates to ongoing challenges over attempts to conduct crucial studies in China.
And so the Covid-19 origin debate remains to be both a political and a scientific conundrum. Some scientists have voiced concerns that the FBI statement could lead to a renewed wave of harassment against scientists, with such statements only further clouding the debate instead of contributing to it (Euronews).
WEIBO DISCUSSIONS
“As long as politics and science cannot operate independently of each other, there is no conclusion in sight.”
Although the Chinese side supposedly condemns blame-shifting and finger-pointing in the Covid-19 origins issue, the media-led and official online discourse regarding the ‘origins problem’ is mostly accusing the U.S. of hyping the issue and making China the scapegoat. Various Weibo hashtags that are used in posts about the topic literally include the words “hyping” and “politicizing” (#美方应该停止搞政治溯源情报溯源#, #美方再次翻炒实验室泄漏论抹黑不了中国#, #有关方面应停止对新冠溯源政治化#, #FBI局长炒作新冠病毒实验室泄漏论#).
Well-known political commentator Sima Nan (@司马南) accused the American side of dredging up and repeating the same old issues again and that the U.S. is “increasingly becoming the world’s laughingstock” for spreading rumors via its official and media channels.
On March 3rd, another Chinese political commentator, Hu Xijin (@胡锡进) also published about the issue, again raising the issue of how Fort Detrick and a lab leak may be connected to the roots of the pandemic:
“In China, there are also many people who think that Covid-19 could come from a laboratory, but that it is America’s Fort Detrick lab. The WHO experts have already visited the Wuhan lab, but the expert group still has not visited the Fort Detrick lab despite the serious doubts about a Covid lab leak there. If the U.S. has nothing to hide, then it should do what China did in 2021 and open the doors of Fort Detrick to the WHO. The biggest lie in human history is that of former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell holding a bottle of washing powder at the United Nations and saying it was an Iraqi chemical weapon. That lie was used as pretext to launch a bloody war. The United States should change its name to “the United States of Rumors” (“谣言合众国”).”
One of the top replies on Hu’s post mentioned the American “vaping disease” that broke out in 2019 and peaked in September of that year. “It must have been the Yankees,” another commenter wrote.
The claim that Fort Detrick is related to the start of the pandemic or that the U.S. army brought Covid-19 to Wuhan has already been circulating since 2020, and these speculations were strengthened by Chinese official sources, including Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian, that pointed the finger at the U.S.
Many online discussions on Chinese social media, including those on Q&A platform Zhihu.com, still accuse the United States for covering up Covid-related facts and for putting the blame on China to cover their own tracks.
In light of the recent balloon controversy, some called the latest statements “another balloon.” By now, it seems impossible to separate the problem of Covid-19 origins from the bilateral relationships between China and the U.S. anymore.
In this regard, the online discussions surrounding the origins of Covid-19 have not changed a lot since 2020. It is a bit of a Catch-22, since these discussions are politicized as they are focused on how the U.S. is politicizing the issue. As long as (international) politics and science cannot operate independently of each other, there is no conclusion in sight that will bring the discussion on the exact origin of Covid-19 to a definitive end.
By Manya Koetse
1 Besides the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the Wuhan-based Chinese Center for Disease Control has also been considered a possible source of a lab leak – the latter is also the one mentioned in the U.S. Department of Energy report.
References
Chang, Le, Lei Zhao, Yan Xiao, Tingting Xu, Lan Chen, Yan Cai, Xiaojing Dong et al. 2023. “Serosurvey for SARS-CoV-2 among blood donors in Wuhan, China from September to December 2019.” Protein & Cell 14 (1): 28-36.
Hao, Ying-Jian, and Yu-Lan Wang. 2022. “The origins of COVID-19 pandemic: A brief overview.” Transboundary and Emerging Diseases (69): 3181–3197.
Khatsenkova, Sophia. 2023. “China COVID lab leak: What we know and what we don’t know about the origins of the virus.” Euronews, # March https://www.euronews.com/next/2023/03/02/china-covid-lab-leak-what-we-know-and-what-we-dont-know-about-the-origins-of-the-virus [4 March 2023].
Mallapaty, Smriti. 2023. “WHO abandons plans for crucial second phase of COVID-origins investigation.” Nature, 14 February (Updated 3 March) https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00283-y#ref-CR1 [4 March 2023].
Wang, Xin, Fan Chao, Guang Yu. 2021. “Evaluating Rumor Debunking Effectiveness During the Covid-19 Pandemic Crisis: Utilizing User Stance in Comments on Sina Weibo.” Frontiers in Public Health (9): 70-87.
Worobey, Michael, Joshua Levy, Lorena Serrano, Alexander Crits-Christoph, Jonathan Pekar, Stephen Goldstein, Angela Rasmussen, Moritz Kraemer, Chris Newman, Marion Koopmans, Marc Suchard, Joel Wertheim, Philippe Lemey, David Robertson, Robert Garry, Edward Holmes, Andrew Rambaut, Kristian Andersen. 2022. “The Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan was the early epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic.” Science 377 (6609): 951-959.
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