As the rest of the world grapples with a burgeoning virus outbreak, China's ruling Communist Party has turned to its propaganda playbook. It portrays President Xi as firmly in charge, leading an army of health workers in a “people’s war” against the virus.
In this Feb. 10, 2020, photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping gestures near a heart shape sign and the slogan "Race against time, Fight the Virus" during an inspection of the center for disease control and prevention of Chaoyang District in Beijing.
State media, a tightly controlled internet and mass mobilization campaigns have all been harnessed for the effort. Li Desheng, a 22-year-old student who said news webcasts are his main source of information, commended the response of the party and the government, saying they had proven effective at stopping the spread of the virus.
June Teufel Dreyer, a China expert at the University of Miami, said the party may have lost credibility with what she called “engaged public opinion,” but that it’s difficult to know what portion of China’s 1.4 billion people that represents. The core of the approach is to stifle any criticism while providing positive role models and showing the party as China’s only real hope.
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