COVID 19 China trying to rewrite history

Outbreak in the central city of Wuhan. A mysterious respiratory illness, with similarities to SARS… The CORONA VIRUS. Doctors now say that the virus can be transmitted from person to person. That's troubling. In January, China's own health officials linked the outbreak to this food market in Wuhan. Most evidence still points to Wuhan as the likely origin of the epidermic. Now China increasing vocal that the virus could have first emerged in other parts of the world. Italy, the worst-hit epicenter in Europe is the latest country to be blamed. Chinese state media have sized on comments by an Italian doctor to suggest the virus originated in Italy. The doctor is now accusing China of twisting his words. China's state media reported he said an outbreak was observed in Italy before it had occurred in China. The doctor in Italy denies ever saying that. But still the claim has circulated widely in China. A trending hashtag on his alleged findings has racked up over 500,000,000 views on Chinese social media. China is also pointing the finger elsewhere when it comes to the origins of this virus-including toward Washington. Here's one example. A spokesman for China's Foreign Minister, Zhao Lijian, tweeted this in March.

"It out might be the US army who brought the epidermic to Wuhan." That tweet pick up on speculation and conspiracy theories that have circulated domestically. Several foreign athletes feel ill during the Military World Games in Wuhan last October. And people have claimed that they could have been infected with COVID 19. However, the head of the hospital in China that treated them disagrees. He says they were actually diagnosed with Malaria. But that hasn't led China to deny the speculation by Zhao Lijian and others which have elevated conspiracy theories to the diplomatic level. Meanwhile, there are signs of China ramping up its propaganda drive. High-ranking Chinese diplomats have been flocking to Western social media now a major battlefield. Dozens of Twitter account were set up on the past few months, although the platform is banned in China itself.

Like Zhos Lijian, many of them are vocally pushing Beijing friendly narratives, and sometimes confronting other countries with controversial and unproven claim including about COVID 19.