China pressured EU to drop COVID disinformation criticism - sources

[rooster59]

China pressured EU to drop COVID disinformation criticism - sources

By Raphael Satter, Robin Emmott and Jack Stubbs

 

FILE PHOTO: A man wearing a face mask buys food at a street stall, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Beijing, China, April 24, 2020. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON/BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) - China sought to block a European Union report alleging that Beijing was spreading disinformation about the coronavirus outbreak, according to four sources and diplomatic correspondence reviewed by Reuters.

 

The report was eventually released, albeit just before the start of the weekend Europe time and with some criticism of the Chinese government rearranged or removed, a sign of the balancing act Brussels is trying to pull off as the coronavirus outbreak scrambles international relations.

 

The Chinese Mission to the EU was not immediately available for comment and China's Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to faxed questions about the exchange. An EU spokeswoman said "we never comment on content or alleged content of internal diplomatic contacts and communication with our partners from another countries."

 

Another EU official Reuters said that the disinformation report had been published as usual and denied any of it had been watered down.

 

Four diplomatic sources told Reuters that the report had initially been slated for release on April 21 but was delayed after Chinese officials picked up on a Politico news report hat previewed its findings.

 

A senior Chinese official contacted European officials in Beijing the same day to tell them that, "if the report is as described and it is released today it will be very bad for cooperation," according to EU diplomatic correspondence reviewed by Reuters.

 

The correspondence quoted senior Chinese foreign ministry official Yang Xiaoguang as saying that publishing the report would make Beijing "very angry" and accused European officials of trying to please "someone else" - something the EU diplomats understood to be a reference to Washington.

 

The four sources said the report had been delayed as a result, and a comparison of the internal version of the report obtained by Reuters and the final version published late Friday showed several differences.

 

For example, on the first page of the internal report shared with EU governments on April 20, the EU's foreign policy arm said: "China has continued to run a global disinformation campaign to deflect blame for the outbreak of the pandemic and improve its international image. Both overt and covert tactics have been observed."

 

The public summary posted Friday to the bloc's disinformation portal, euvsdisinfo.eu http://www.euvsdisinfo.eu, attributed the disinformation to "state-backed sources from various governments, including Russia and – to a lesser extent – China."

 

The public summary did note "significant evidence of covert Chinese operations on social media," but the reference was left to the final six paragraphs of the document.

 

Disinformation about the coronavirus outbreak is emerging as a flashpoint between the United States and China, and officials on both sides have traded allegations of hiding information about the pandemic.

 

The disputes have sometimes caught Europeans in the middle. With more than a billion euros a day in bilateral trade, the EU is China's top trading partner, while China is second only to the United States as a market for EU goods and services.

 

In a webcast Friday with the Friends of Europe think tank, China's ambassador to the EU Zhang Ming said, "Disinformation is an enemy for all of us and it should be addressed by all of us."

 

(Reporting by Raphael Satter in Washington, Robin Emmott in Brussels and Jack Stubbs in London; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-04-25

 

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[petermik]

Bully boy tactics to suppress the truth perhaps? simple....do not bow to it 

[transam]

Think the Chinese have shot themselves in the foot.

The world is not happy, and I feel the world is going to try to go its own way, distance China....

[RichardColeman]

Wonder if Mr. Cha Cha Cha will get a submarine discount if he comes out backing the Chinese ? 

[transam]

36 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

Wonder if Mr. Cha Cha Cha will get a submarine discount if he comes out backing the Chinese ? 

A train or two too, no doubt.....????

[jollyhangmon]

8 minutes ago, transam said:

A train or two too, no doubt.....????

 

... yes, or the one or other Autobahn for good measure, dictators like to do that I seem to recall ... 

 

[rasmus5150]

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

The correspondence quoted senior Chinese foreign ministry official Yang Xiaoguang as saying that publishing the report would make Beijing "very angry"

How does Beijing think the rest of the world feels about them???...???...

 

I will definitely think twice about my personal shopping, so I don't give China any more of my hard earned money.

But now in these virus-times many are going for the cheap option.

[spidermike007]

A voice of reasoning in the wilderness of panic and fear of the zombie apocalypse. What these doctors are saying makes total sense. There is an astonishing amount of bad information out there, and alot of medical personnel who do not know what they are working with, are unwilling to break normal influenza protocol (therefore killing alot of people, inadvertently) and listening to Fauci, the CDC, the FDA, and the WHO way too much, and not thinking outside the box, and dancing on their feet. As this guy says, theory and reality are not always the same.  

 

https://www.facebook.com/KGET17News/videos/537566680274166/

[ToThailand]

Everyone knows that the covid-19 virus originated from china. So why a health minister in a certain country trying to put the blame on farangs is just silly

[marko kok prong]

Look at the photo,what's in the box pal? Bats,pangolins,they will never stop until they have eaten the world, Nuke em Don,just make sure the winds blowing north.

[Russell17au]

43 minutes ago, marko kok prong said:

Look at the photo,what's in the box pal? Bats,pangolins,they will never stop until they have eaten the world, Nuke em Don,just make sure the winds blowing north.

You must have good eyesight if you can see in that box. Then again I would say it is not your eyes but your mind. Why don't you Nuke Thailand as well for what they eat?

[marko kok prong]

29 minutes ago, Russell17au said:

You must have good eyesight if you can see in that box. Then again I would say it is not your eyes but your mind. Why don't you Nuke Thailand as well for what they eat?

You,You,Democrat.

[Knocker33]

5 hours ago, transam said:

Think the Chinese have shot themselves in the foot.

The world is not happy, and I feel the world is going to try to go its own way, distance China....

Apart from here who will bending over backwards and spreading their cheeks to welcome them back. 

 

[daveAustin]

Stop buying Chinese sh*t.

[Russell17au]

28 minutes ago, daveAustin said:

Stop buying Chinese sh*t.

Did you know that every mobile phone, computer, mobile phone network, internet network, television, electrical household equipement, electronic guidance systems, aircraft and aircraft radar systems has components in then that are made in China. Are you going to abide by your convictions and not have a mobile phone or a mobile phone network or computer or internet network and revert back to living in the 1950's. Every piece of electronics equipement in the world has electronic components that are made in China even you first class medical equipement.

Edited April 25, 2020 by Russell17au

[rhodie]

1 hour ago, Russell17au said:

Did you know that every mobile phone, computer, mobile phone network, internet network, television, electrical household equipement, electronic guidance systems, aircraft and aircraft radar systems has components in then that are made in China. Are you going to abide by your convictions and not have a mobile phone or a mobile phone network or computer or internet network and revert back to living in the 1950's. Every piece of electronics equipement in the world has electronic components that are made in China even you first class medical equipement.

If there is enough will, that can change. 2020 may just see things turn.

[Russell17au]

43 minutes ago, rhodie said:

If there is enough will, that can change. 2020 may just see things turn.

Unfortunately to get the knowledge and the expertise of the technology to be able to do the things that China does would take too many years because the technology that's needed is locked up in China so you need to get on you hands and knees and crawl to China to be able to get the technology from them. It was  tried before many years ago and failed.

[Roy Baht]

Spread disinformation then bully countries into not saying you are spreading disinformation. Way to go China!

[nattaya09]

1 hour ago, rhodie said:

If there is enough will, that can change. 2020 may just see things turn.

Took decades to get China woven so deeply into the supply  lines and it would take a long time to unwind it. Elected leaders have no long term vision beyond their next re-election.  Once the current urgency dissipates, the urgency to unwind will as well 

[Redline]

13 hours ago, rasmus5150 said:

How does Beijing think the rest of the world feels about them???...???...

 

I will definitely think twice about my personal shopping, so I don't give China any more of my hard earned money.

But now in these virus-times many are going for the cheap option.

The only reason China is powerful is because people want cheap goods-it’s time to pay more, and make goods in the home country.  More jobs, and it keeps production and supply close at hand-a wider tax base as well 

[candide]

15 minutes ago, Redline said:

The only reason China is powerful is because people want cheap goods-it’s time to pay more, and make goods in the home country.  More jobs, and it keeps production and supply close at hand-a wider tax base as well 

Well, another reason is that companies want to access this huge market.

[Redline]

1 hour ago, candide said:

Well, another reason is that companies want to access this huge market.

Yes, the Chinese people want foreign goods, but they can be shipped in either direction.  

[transam]

20 hours ago, transam said:

Think the Chinese have shot themselves in the foot.

The world is not happy, and I feel the world is going to try to go its own way, distance China....

Regarding my above post, I would like to ask member Khunken why he thought it was "Sad".

Just curious considering the topic title, could you explain in your own words why "Sad,"  please........? ????

[timendres]

13 hours ago, transam said:

Regarding my above post, I would like to ask member Khunken why he thought it was "Sad".

Just curious considering the topic title, could you explain in your own words why "Sad,"  please........? ????

Khunken clicks "Sad" for nearly everything. It might be a cry for help.