Canned peaches news mirror Western ignorance on China

A US Covid wave is "the start of a new normal", China's Covid waves led to "packed ICUs" and "crowded crematoriums". What's the real situation in China? How does Western media misconstrue rather than understand? China Daily Media Unlocked team visits hospitals and crematoriums, interviews health experts and the general public to find out the truth.

In Western reporting, the canned peaches demand surge in China are widely reported. For many Chinese people, canned peaches are a comfort food that helps relieve anxiety, but CNN used it as "evidence" of chaos and bad governance. In Western reporting, China's Covid policy is "a show", China's response to the covid surge is "muddled", China's effort to save people's lives are "wasted"; and it's the Covid cases in China that might spark a "dangerous new variant that infects the world".

But in fact, China has avoided more lethal Covid variants and got over 90% of its population vaccinated before lifting strict control measures. Three years into the pandemic, Western reporting has kept double dealing in their coverage on China's covid situation. "What need is there to listen to criticism from Western countries who failed at containing the virus when China has science on its side? " said Fernando Munoz Bernal, a Colombian content creator.

China Daily Media Unlocked team visited one of the "crowded crematorium" featured in Western journalists' reporting. The crematorium was not busy, and no queues were spotted. Western journalists went to crematoriums to seek visual impact and report on China's covid situation. But it's not compassion that is motivating them. Instead, they are capitalizing on deaths to advance their political interests.

"One million people could die from the covid wave in China," according to Western reporting. But people in China said the number is more of a vicious smear than a scientific prediction. "They'd better check out how many have died in their own countries," said one respondent. Streets in Beijing are bustling again with traffic. The recent rebound in social activity in the country is an example of how long it might take for the country to recover from the current Covid surge and regain economic vitality.

Yuan Qingpan, Yin Weihao and Le Yi contributes to the video.