Fox News senior strategic analyst retired General Jack Keane said Tuesday that Chinese propaganda is working overtime trying to make a hero out of leader Xi Jinping for supposedly stopping the spread of the coronavirus.
“Inside China … they’re telling, through state-owned media and videos, that Xi [Jinping] is a national hero for stopping the spread of the epidemic. That is absolutely amazing,” Keane told Fox Business Network’s “Mornings With Maria.”
Keane said that is a difficult story to manage, given that the virus very probably originated in a virology research center in Wuhan that allowed it to escape and ravage the local population. He called China’s current public relations battle something on par with the Tiananmen Square disaster of 1989 when Chinese soldiers killed student protesters. (RELATED: REPORT: China Concealed Over 43,000 Confirmed Coronavirus Cases By End Of February)
Keane noted that Chinese efforts to blame other people for the virus, including the United States military, have been unsuccessful. He expressed amazement that the World Health Organization (WHO) continues to act as an apologist for Chinese actions even though China is clearly losing international support.
“The fact that WHO is still making these claims to support China now, after they have been clearly identified on the international stage as being in China’s orbit, is really amazing to me. You would think they would be trying to be more objective and take a more scientific approach to this problem as opposed to a political one.”
Keane said the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is “absolutely paranoid” about both China’s “international image and domestic image” but ultimate knows it’s what people think at home that most affects the stability of the regime. “And that public image that is affecting China is what they’re really pushing back on. They are absolutely paranoid about this. This is their Achilles heel. It impacts on the support they need to have from their people.”
A woman wearing protective gear adjusts her glasses in Wuhan, Hubei province, the epicentre of China’s coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, March 30, 2020. REUTERS/Aly Song
Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley has introduced a bill that would target the CCP’s coronavirus coverup and attempt to “secure compensation” for people affected by this disease. (RELATED: Mike Pompeo Blames Chinese Communist Party For Global ‘Suffering’ Due To COVID-19)
Hawley’s legislation clearly blames China for mishandling the coronavirus outbreak and confirms the Trump administration’s conviction that Chinese inaction increased the infection rate and deaths around the world.
Republican Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton has also introduced legislation that would allow victims of the coronavirus pandemic to sue Chinese officials.
“With legislation I have introduced with [Republican Texas Rep.] Dan Crenshaw it will be possible. It amends the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act which allows foreign officials to be sued in our courts,” Cotton said.