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Coronavirus: can China recover from diplomacy missteps made during the pandemic?
- The country handled coronavirus outbreaks within its borders decisively but unfavourable opinion from other countries still suffering has soared
- Wolf Warrior diplomacy is Beijing’s response to criticism from abroad and the need to protect its dignity, say officials
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This is the fourth story in a 15-part series on the Covid-19 disease, one year after it first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan. It explores how China has fared on the world stage, first as the scene of the first outbreak and later as would-be saviour and sometime adversary against other countries battling their own coronavirus crises. Please support us on our mission to bring you quality journalism.
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One year since the first Covid-19 cases were detected in the central city of Wuhan, China has largely tamed the pandemic, while it remains severe in most parts of the world. Coming out of the pandemic almost unscathed, China has become the first major economy to recover, with 4.9 per cent growth in gross domestic product posted for the third quarter.
Politically, the Communist Party finished its fifth plenum at the end of October with President Xi Jinping hailed as the “core navigator at the helm”. In the end-of-plenum communique, the top leadership said China would “surely overcome all kinds of difficulties and hindrances on the road ahead”.
While expressing confidence that the superiority of the socialist system had helped China contain the pandemic, the communique cautioned about the “increasingly complex” international environment.
Concerns on the international front could easily take hold. Over the past year, China has faced significant tension with the United States in several areas, from market access to intellectual property, security and human rights issues. But China’s image has also deteriorated in the eyes of the general public in the broader developed world amid wide criticism over how Beijing handled the Covid-19 outbreak, according to a survey of 14,276 adults in 14 countries by the Pew Research Centre.
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The survey was conducted from June to August and released in early October.
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