As a result, the covid-19 pandemic has been grossly politicized against the country from start to finish. In the early days, the outbreak of Wuhan was designated as a failure of China’s political system and ideology, drawing upon the assumption these events could not happen in the “transparent” and “civilized west”. The BBC called it an “epic political disaster”. Orientalist arguments were also used to blame China’s culture and cuisine. However, once the pandemic became globalized, China was then scapegoated as part of an opportunistic blame game spearheaded by an aggressive U.S administration, who used it as a means to reset their own and allies’ foreign policies pertaining to China.
Contrary to the narrative however, China’s successful zero-covid policy not only overcame the outbreak in Wuhan but succeeded in creating relative normality throughout the country for two years. This approach not only saved millions of lives, but ultimately allowed China’s economy to rebound rapidly without resorting to extreme levels of stimulus. The response of the west was to simply deny China any recognition for it whatsoever. They accused China of lying about their numbers and began even propagating conspiracy theories such as the infamous “Laboratory leak” conspiracy theory- A claim which was as nonsensical as it was offensive. But in no circumstances whatsoever, were western politicians and media prepared to give China credit for their handling of covid-19, even as their own populations died in large numbers.
As China created its own vaccines, the west quickly created new narratives falsely claiming such vaccines were ineffective, publishing misinformation about their efficacy in countries which used them. It goes without saying that at every single stage and event of this whole crisis, there has been a narrative ready to attack China with in some way or form. Now the medium switches towards the lockdown in Shanghai, China’s biggest city, where again the government is accused of being brutal and the focus is placed on the complaints of residents.