Faulty tests, propaganda and recriminations: How China ‘defeated’ coronavirus

Beijing’s response to virus remains contentious, including accusations over why it took so long to warn the world, writes Kim Sengupta

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Traffic jams are returning to cities in China, and shopping centres, bars and nightclubs are reopening after weeks of lockdown as the government declared victory over coronavirus. Normal social and economic order “must be fully and urgently restored”, decreed president Xi Jinping.

China is now seeking to take an international leadership role in the war against Covid-19. A concerted wave of articles, social media posts and public announcements have appeared in a wide variety of languages to laud Beijing’s achievement. “China’s signature strength, efficiency and speed in this fight has been widely acclaimed,” declared foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian. “A new standard has been set for the global efforts against the epidemic.”

The coronavirus started in China, and now having brought the disease under relative control, China is shutting its borders, temporarily, to the world. What has happened in between is contentious, mired in accusations and recriminations, much of it around why it took Beijing so long to alert the outside world of the outbreak – a fatal delay which, it is claimed, allowed the devastating pandemic to take place.