China’s notorious campaign to shift the blame of Covid-19 origins on other nations has found two new targets—Saudi Arabia and Brazil.
In a move aimed at acquitting China of all the allegations revolving around the mishandling of the Corona crisis, Chinese media is striving to prove that Corona could have spread via exports from countries like Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and the US.
Brazil and Saudi Arabia emerge as new targets for the bellicose Chinese media
As per Chinese media, pork from the US, beef from Brazil, shrimps from Saudi Arabia, and lobsters from Maine are the reason behind the Covid-19 spread.
Disinformation researcher Marcel Schliebs from Policy Research Group (POREG) has also singled out several social media accounts possibly linked to the Chinese Communist Party pushing the theory defying allegations of China being the root cause of the pandemic.
Schliebs analysed that Maine lobsters theory was first spun by a Chinese diplomat posted to the Kolkata consulate in India.
“One can see a correlation between the growing international concerns about China’s Wuhan city being the epicentre of coronavirus and these contaminated meat accusations. China, in an attempt to counter the narrative, seems to be promoting the contaminated meat theory,” a report by Schliebs added.
Chinese media earlier spun US origin theory
Chinese media has also previously blamed India and the US for being the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In an article published by Global Times on August 15, titled, “Conspiracy theory or reasonable scepticism? Why we should demand an investigation into US labs for origins of COVID-19,” the CCP made a case for WHO and other agencies to investigate US labs from where China thinks Covid-19 escaped.
Similarly, Global Times also did a piece in which it blamed India and its scientific community for being among the first who pointed towards China’s culpability in allowing Covid-19 to spread across the world.
The piece, titled, “Source of rumour pinpointed: India-based ‘science enthusiasts’ weave ‘Wuhan lab leak’ lies using online content to feed Western media,” insinuated that India and the West were hands in glove in defaming China.
China’s exponential influence over WHO and other world bodies has so far prevented a fair and transparent investigation into the Covid-19 origins. A WHO delegation had first visited Wuhan in China in January this year that had repudiated the Covid lab leak theory.
WHO’s botched up investigation and ensuing aggression from China
However, the delegation later came under heavy fire from the observers worldwide owing to the allegations of pro-China bias. Later on, WHO attempted to dampen the fury by announcing a second phase of the investigation into Covid origins in China; however, the proposals got struck down by Beijing almost immediately it got floated by WHO.
China’s attempts to push other countries in dock over the Covid origin issue also got a shot in the arm in August this year when a US investigation failed to reach any conclusion regarding the lab leak theory.
Failure on the USA’s part
The report also ruled out the possibility of the novel Coronavirus being genetically engineered to create a biological weapon. The doubt still remains on two theories – of whether Covid-19 came from a lab in China or whether it jumped from an animal to humans naturally.
With doubts still lingering over Covid-19 origins, China is cunningly using this opportunity to turn on the heat on other nations questioning China’s role in spreading the pandemic.
However, the Chinese media’s move to single out nations such as Saudi Arabia and Brazil in their campaign to nullify lab leak theory could harm its interests in the Arab world and Brazil. The issue of the Covid origin unnerves China in incredible proportions, and now it is so desperate that it is even read to debilitate its ties with Saudi Arabia and Brazil.