Maybe it started in India, suggests the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In the opening months of the pandemic, designated apologists promulgated theories of a U.S. plot to unleash the virus. What’s curious about the effort is this question: just who is Beijing trying to convince, its captive domestic audience or the rest of the world? Chinese people are used to being told what to believe, with state censorship ensuring they have little access to alternative facts. Anyone inclined to disbelieve the official account would be welcome to occupy a cell in one of the danker corners of the nearest re-education centre.

Source: National Post December 31, 2020 11:03 UTC