China has been accused by Brussels of running disinformation campaigns inside the EU as the bloc set out a plan to tackle a “huge wave” of false facts about the COVID-19 pandemic.
The European Commission said that Russia and China were running “targeted influence operations and disinformation campaigns in the EU, its neighborhood, and globally.”
While the charge against Russia has been leveled on many occasions, it was the first time that the EU’s executive branch had publicly named China as a source of disinformation.
Photo: AFP
French politicians were furious when a Chinese embassy Web site in mid-April claimed that care workers had abandoned their jobs leaving residents to die. The unnamed Chinese diplomat also falsely claimed that 80 French lawmakers had used a racist slur against WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“I believe if we have evidence we should not shy away from naming and shaming,” European Commission for Values and Transparency Vice President Vera Jourova told reporters. “What we also witnessed is a surge in narratives undermining our democracies and in effect our response to the crisis — for example, the claim that there are secret US biological laboratories in former Soviet republics has been spread by pro-Kremlin outlets, as well as Chinese officials and state media.”
“I strongly believe that a geopolitically strong EU can only materialize if we are assertive,” Jourova said, alluding to the aim of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for the body to have more clout on the world stage.
The more assertive stance marks a change in tone from a report in March that merely described Chinese media narratives, while focusing the spotlight on disinformation from Kremlin-backed sources.
It comes after lawmakers in the European Parliament accused the commission of watering down an earlier report on disinformation under pressure from China — charges EU officials strongly denied.
EU member states are grappling with how to deal with China on a range of fronts, from foreign policy and security to the economy.
“Be it the president, be it the diplomats, be it me — when we [politicians] say something, we have to be accountable,” Jourova said.
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