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The China Power Project: 'The government's reticence, due to an attempt to control information and prevent public panic, delayed an effective and timely response.'
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To date, a major part of the effort had centered on social media, where the government leaders have waged a campaign heavily focused on casting doubt on any narrative that lays blame for the pandemic at its feet.
The China Power Project has taken on the role of analyzing much of what has happened. As an arm of the Center for Strategic & International Affairs, China Power builds itself as providing “an in-depth understanding of the evolving nature of Chinese power relative to other countries,” according to its website.
Over recent times, China Power reports Chinese state-linked social media accounts, such as Twitter, have relentlessly focused on defending and commending their response to the COVID-19 pandemic, all while berating the responses of other countries.
While the report details that perceptions of the way the government has handled the crisis have improved, there is no way the government can legitimately distance itself from accusations that it is solely to blame for the outbreak.
“The government's reticence, due to an attempt to control information and prevent public panic, delayed an effective and timely response, thus causing a worse outbreak,” the China Power Project said. Recent polls conducted by YouGov-Cambridge and Pew Research Center seem to support that position, the Project said.
One concluded that respondents believe that Beijing "tried to hide the truth" about the beginnings of the outbreak and the other found most respondents from 14 developed economies now have unfavorable views of China. Unfavorable views stood out as extremely high in Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.
One concluded that respondents believe that Beijing "tried to hide the truth" about the beginnings of the outbreak and the other found most respondents from 14 developed economies now have unfavorable views of China. Unfavorable views stood out as extremely high in Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.
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