EU bows to Beijing censorship

The European Union has been humiliated after accepting Chinese censorship of a letter mentioning that the coronavirus outbreak originated in China. EU ambassadors had written an opinion piece celebrating Sino-European co-operation to mark the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations. Despite the glowing terms of the article, published in China Daily, a state-run newspaper, the Chinese foreign ministry demanded that a reference to the origins of the coronavirus pandemic be cut before publication. The opinion piece noted that the ‘‘outbreak of the coronavirus in China, and its subsequent spread to the rest of the world over the past three months, has meant that our pre-existing plans have been temporarily side-tracked’’, in a reference to a postponed EU-China summit. The Chinese foreign ministry refused publication unless the words were deleted, and with ‘‘considerable reluctance’’ the EU’s diplomatic service, the European External Action Service (EEAS) agreed to ensure that publication went ahead, to the dismay of some governments. The EEAS said: ‘‘The EU delegation was informed that publication could only take place with agreement of [the] Chinese ministry of foreign affairs. The EU delegation made known its concerns. The EU continues to advocate a free press. On this specific case the EU delegation decided to proceed with publication with considerable reluctance as it considered it important to communicate the key messages.’’ There is anger among ambassadors who had signed the letter but were not told of the censorship or consulted on the changes to the text, published in their names.