WASHINGTON — 

With the introduction of China's "New Ten Measures" to relax epidemic control, the "clearing" policy has officially come to an end. In line with policy changes, Chinese state media have also quickly revised how they describe the novel coronavirus and the outbreak. From pointing out that the fight against the epidemic is facing a severe situation to publicizing that the virus is not terrible, it only took about a week for the official media to complete a 180-degree turn in caliber.


In the first two years after the outbreak began, the Chinese government and official media continued to publicize that strict blockade measures have effectively curbed the spread of the epidemic, emphasized the lethality of the virus and the sequelae left to patients, and criticized the policy of "coexisting" with the virus in Western countries. After the emergence of the low-lethal Amicron variant virus, officials chose to stick to this set of propaganda methods and continue to "clear".


After anti-zeroing protests across the country at the end of November, several local governments in China unexpectedly began to relax epidemic management measures. On Wednesday (December 7), China issued the "New Ten Measures", which greatly lowered the threshold for lockdown measures and health code checks. Experts generally agree that the loosening of regulations means the virus will spread more widely than it has in the past three years.


In the past week or two, the Chinese state media, which played a propaganda role, began to quickly change their tone, emphasizing that the epidemic is coming to an end and the virus is not terrible. Netizens reacted differently to such a sudden change. Some people think it is irresponsible for the government to let go suddenly, while some people cheer that freedom is finally ushered in. But more often, netizens satirized the dramatic changes in official discourse through various jokes and jokes.


From "the most serious situation" to "the end of the epidemic" within a week After


China issued the "Twenty Measures" in mid-November, the official media successively emphasized the need to be "precise" in prevention and control methods and reduce closed management but still pointed out that The risk of the spread of the epidemic is facing the whole country.


"People's Daily" commentator "Zhong Yin" who has repeatedly praised "clearing," wrote in a review article on December 1: "Currently, the overall epidemic situation in the country is developing rapidly, and the epidemic has spread to a wide range of people. , There is a risk of a large-scale rebound of the epidemic in some places, and some places are facing the most complicated and severe situation in the past three years of fighting the epidemic.” On the same day, Xinhua News Review also stated: “Currently, the number of new coronary pneumonia infections in China continues to increase


. , the spread of the epidemic in some areas is accelerating... The Omicron mutant strain is more stealthy, spreads faster, and it is more difficult for early infected people to quickly identify."


However, within a few days, the wind direction changed. State media began to emphasize another characteristic of Omicron that was not often mentioned before: its low toxicity.


A Xinhua News Review on December 5 stated: “With the weakening of the pathogenicity of the Omicron virus, the popularization of vaccination, and the accumulation of experience in prevention and control, China’s epidemic prevention and control is facing new situations and tasks.” The article also

announced: "The most difficult period has passed."

On December 6, China Central Television News Channel quoted experts as saying that Omicron was "very close to seasonal flu, preventable, controllable, and curable."


Just 3 days later, Chinese state media further stated that China is close to the end of the epidemic.


The well-known CCTV host Bai Yansong said on the program on December 8 that with the introduction of the "New Ten Rules", "we are officially on the road to ending the life of the epidemic."


On the same day, Liu Xin, host of CGTN, China International Television Network, posted an interview clip on Twitter and Weibo. The official Chinese health expert in the clip said that there is no need to be afraid of the new crown, and traditional Chinese medicine can slow down the symptoms of the new crown.


“The propaganda machine is working like crazy,” James Zimmerman, a former chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China and now a Beijing-based American lawyer, commented on Twitter. "The official storyline for 2022 will be revisionist - water down, make up, forget. Like magic, all excesses and grievances from 'zeroing out' will be quickly buried and forgotten."


Netizens reacted differently, and jokes emerged


one after another. The official's quick change of tone has aroused heated discussions on the Chinese Internet. "We are officially on the road to ending the life of the epidemic" became the number one topic on Weibo's hot search list on Thursday (December 8).


For netizens who have always supported "clearing zero" in the past, the change in official stance is disappointing.


Weibo blogger "Mr. Mingde," wrote: "The matter has come to this point, and we can only face it head-on. The party and the state have protected each of us for three full years. It is really not easy for three full years." There are also


anger A blogger questioned: "What's the difference between lying flat and rotten now?"
The drastic change in the official caliber has also helped spawn a lot of jokes and jokes.
A widely reposted joke read:
"Crowds: When will it open?
Beijing: Ten
People: Ten months? Ten weeks?
Beijing: Nine, eight, seven..."


Some netizens also posted a metaphorical satire on China. Photos of unreasonable epidemic prevention measures before. In the photo, on a piece of manuscript paper, the simple math problem of subtracting nine from four went through ten lines of unnecessarily complicated calculations, and the answer "5" was still obtained. The words "hard exploration" are written on the side of the program.

Regarding the official's sudden emphasis that Omicron is not scary, some netizens pointed out the absurdity here with the common dog comparison stickers on the Internet.


On the left of the picture is a strong dog, referring to "Omikron from two weeks ago". On the right is an effeminate dog, referring to "Today's Omicron". Two weeks ago, the characteristics of Omicron included "extreme secrecy, medical runs, massive deaths, repeated infections, and destruction of the immune system." Two weeks later, Omicron suddenly "significantly less toxic, at seasonal cold levels, with no evidence of sequelae."

On Zhihu, a netizen named "Director of the Smoking Quit Room" summed up the various exaggerations of the harmfulness of Omicron by Chinese state media in the past year. Regarding the sudden change of tone, he commented sarcastically: "A flexible scientific spirit, a dynamic journalistic conscience".


American independent scholar Philip J. Cunningham told Voice of America: "The primary task of the official media is to beautify the leader and justify the existence of the CCP, ensuring that its authority is safe. The secondary task is to assure the public that everything is fine. Well, don’t think too much.”


Since 1986, Peili Kim has often traveled to China to work and live. His book "Tiananmen Moon" (Tiananmen Moon) documents the 1989 Beijing student movement through his own experience. Today, he watches "News Network" every day to observe the trend of Chinese propaganda.


In an e-mail reply to Voice of America, he pointed out the whitewashing language used by the state media when they changed their tone: "The change of tune on 'clearing' relies on words like 'unwavering optimization', which is introduced The new policy and relaxation of control have protected (the two tasks of the state media).”


But many Chinese people do worry about the possible worsening of the epidemic after the sudden opening. In the past three years, China has spent a lot of resources on "zeroing out", and has not prepared for the medical supply after the liberalization. The vaccines developed by China are also less effective.


China's official media China Youth Daily reported that Feng Zijian, the former deputy director of the China Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pointed out on Tuesday that after the Chinese government loosened the epidemic prevention and control measures, 80% to 90% of Chinese people will inevitably encounter a virus infection.


In some parts of China, people are already rushing to buy medicines. A circulating joke read: "In the past: buying vegetables and other restrictions. Now: buying medicines and other fevers."


On the Weibo of the "whistleblower" Li Wenliang who died in the early days of the new crown outbreak, some netizens left a message: "We have been tossing for three days. After more than a year, the epidemic really started."