A patient is taken from an ambulance and treated by medical professionals as they enter a Samaritan's Purse Emergency Field Hospital on March 20, 2020 in Cremona, Italy. The American organization built a 68-bed respiratory unit, and 32 members of Samaritan's Purse disaster response team will provide medical care during the pandemic. (Photo by Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images)

Many nations are struggling to contain coronavirus outbreaks within their own borders. Yet China, which has largely recovered from the pandemic that started within its borders and remains weakened by the outbreak, has begun to leverage this global crisis to divert attention from its early failures preventing the virus's spread.

Alongside efforts to expel US reporters and stockpile desperately needed medical supplies, the Chinese Communist Party is engaging in a global propaganda campaign. The CCP is attempting to rewrite the events that led to the pandemic and ultimately shift international awareness from its brutal methods of governance to the narrative that China has emerged unscathed from its coronavirus outbreak and is now leading global humanitarian efforts to combat the pandemic.

The CCP's new narrative does not hold up under scrutiny. We have compiled five CCP myths that are easily debunked by the facts outlined by Hudson scholars. And don't miss Hudson's coronavirus homepage, which will keep you updated on the latest geostrategic analysis of the pandemic.

CCP to the Rescue? Myths vs. Facts

Myth #1: China's motivations for providing global aid are humanitarian. Hudson's Ravenel B. Curry III Distinguished Fellow in Strategy and Statesmanship Walter Russell Mead supplies the fact:

China hopes to use the crisis to strengthen its global position. Publicity stunts like Jack Ma’s donation of medical supplies to the U.S. show how Beijing intends to convert the disaster of the pandemic into global opportunities.

Aid donations plus propaganda about the supposed superiority of China’s governance model will find sympathetic ears in many countries, especially if the U.S. and its allies are AWOL. While the crisis lasts, China will have opportunities to deepen security, economic and political relationships with governments around the world.

Myth #2: China's economy has emerged unscathed. Hudson Senior Fellow John Lee supplies the fact:

The coronavirus has become an issue at a time when Xi’s government has spent years engaging in a high-risk, high-cost approach towards national growth and the accumulation of national power. Chronic over-investment, unregulated credit and a highly leveraged shadow banking sector have resulted in an economy that relies on a high GDP growth rate to stave off a financial crisis.

At a time when China is battling the effects of a public health crisis and pre-existing structural problems, China must maintain high levels of growth to ensure that: state-owned-enterprises have adequate revenues to service ever-higher levels of debt; the central government has adequate tax revenues to fund its ever-more-expansive domestic and external security objectives; and provincial governments, which are overwhelmingly responsible for delivering public services and have been chronically underfunded, have sufficient means to provide these services.

Myth #3: The CCP effectively used an all-of-government approach to combat coronavirus. Hudson Senior Fellow Rebeccah Heinrichs supplies the fact:

President Xi Jinping personally ordered officials to control the outbreak on Jan. 7. But the CCP continued to insist it was impossible for the virus to spread from person to person.

With Xi at the helm and knowing how bad this disease was, officials green-lighted the massive Chinese Lunar New Year banquet in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province. Xi also bears the responsibility for permitting 5 million people to leave Wuhan untested.

The abysmal failures and lies pile up even higher than that, from destroying evidence of the virus’ existence, denying access to the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control and the World Health Organization, and disappearing those courageous enough to criticize the government’s handling of the virus.

Myth #4: China's suppression of civil freedoms was an acceptable sacrifice for ending the outbreak in Wuhan. Hudson's Ravenel B. Curry III Distinguished Fellow in Strategy and Statesmanship Walter Russell Mead supplies the fact:

In a system where the party’s wisdom and omnicompetence must always be acknowledged, a culture of sterility and conformism inevitably degrades decision making and, as the world saw in Wuhan, leads to grave errors.

The culture of denial grows denser, as does the party’s fear of independent voices and accurate information. Such a state, however imposing and powerful it appears, is a prisoner of its fears. A stronger, more confident government wouldn’t fear criticism from foreign journalists or foreign intellectuals. China’s Communists are very afraid.

Myth #5: The CCP protects the well-being of Chinese citizens. Hudson Senior Fellow Lela Gilbert supplies the fact:

The fate of China's endangered men and women held in work camps is best described as being eventual donors for organs-on-demand: when a liver, kidney, corneas or even a set of lungs is requested by a “customer” (often a wealthy westerner), a prisoner of conscience is identified with the appropriate blood type, tissue matching and DNA, and is quickly killed and disemboweled. 

It has become clear that the Uighur population has become a primary source of these marketed organs. And, not coincidentally, those camps are also primary site of “disappeared” men and women. These missing victims have reportedly had extensive blood tests, DNA and tissue samples taken. Their medical details were strategically categorized. Then they simply disappeared.  

Quotes have been edited for length and clarity

Go Deeper: Hudson on the Coronavirus

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