Brussels agreed to censor letter saying China was source of virus
THE European Union bowed to Chinese pressure to remove a public letter’s reference to the fact that the coronavirus pandemic originated in China, it emerged yesterday.
The EU’S foreign affairs service agreed to delete a reference to the “outbreak of the coronavirus in China” as a reason for a cancelled Eu-china summit in the letter, which was published in the state-run China Daily newspaper.
The European External Action Service excised the reference under pressure from China’s foreign ministry after accusing the country of spreading disinformation about the virus.
“It is of course regrettable to see that the sentence about the spread of the virus has been edited,” said Nicolas Chapuis, the EU’S ambassador to China, who co-signed the opinion piece. The senior diplomats had written the letter to mark 45 years of diplomatic relations between Beijing and the EU. Officials insisted that the letter would not have been published without the cut.
Norbert Röttgen, head of the German parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said he was shocked, “not once but twice”. He said: “First the EU ambassadors generously adopt Chinese narratives and then the EU representation accepts Chinese censorship of the joint op-ed. Speaking with one voice is important but it has to reflect our shared European values and interests.”
A spokesman for the service 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. In this case the EU delegation decided to proceed with publication with reluctance because it considered it important to communicate the key messages.”
China is currently attempting to block EU moves in the World Health Organisation to push for an investigation into the pandemic over language that states it started in China.
The US supports the UN resolution on the probe into the origin and spread of coronavirus when the World Health Assembly convenes this month. Beijing yesterday accused the US of trying to shift blame over the coronavirus after Donald Trump said the pandemic was worse than Pearl Harbour or 9/11.
The US president claimed the virus leaked from a lab in Wuhan, while Chinese diplomats suggested it was planted there by the US military.
Hua Chunying, from China’s foreign ministry, said: “We urge the US side to stop shifting the blame to China and turn to facts.”
China claimed researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology were trained in the US and France. Emmanuel Macron, the French president, said there was no evidence to link the Wuhan P4 lab to Covid-19.
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