China pressured the EU to change a report about their pandemic coverup — and they did

The coverup to the coverup

Photo: Mehmet Emin Menguarslan / Anadolu Agency

 CARLOS GARCIA

A bombshell report from Reuters documented China's successful effort to soften a report from the European Union that would describe their "disinformation campaign" about the coronavirus pandemic.

The Reuters report cited four diplomatic sources and was published on Friday.
The sources said that the European report on the Chinese coverup was set to be released on April 21 when Chinese authorities heard about it and persuaded the E.U. to postpone its release and edit its contents.
Reuters reviewed correspondence from a senior Chinese official warning that "if the report is as described and it is released today it will be very bad for cooperation."
In one example of the changes made, the excised portion of the report clearly blames China for a disinformation campaign:

"China has continued to run a global disinformation campaign to deflect blame for the outbreak of the pandemic and improve its international image. Both overt and covert tactics have been observed."

In the edited version that was published publicly by the E.U., China's role is reduced significantly, with the disinformation campaign being attributed to "state-backed sources from various governments, including Russia and – to a lesser extent – China."

A later note adds the tidbit of "significant evidence of covert Chinese operations on social media."
Many have accused China of covering up their culpability in the spread of the global pandemic, including Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) who said that he believed China seeded cases in other countries in order to maintain their relative global power.

Here's more about China's culpability for the pandemic: