Language Manipulation in Western Propaganda on China

• China doesn’t fire officials, it “purges” them
• Corrupt Chinese officials don’t get convicted for corruption, they “lose power struggles”
• China doesn’t punish corrupt officials, it “nets” them
• Chinese leaders don’t strengthen laws, they “concentrate power”
• China doesn’t give out loans, it “traps” countries in debt
• China has “state media outlets”, other countries have “public service broadcasters”
• China does “propaganda”, other countries do “communications”
• Chinese leaders don’t want their country to prosper peacefully, they are “obsessed with stability”
• Countries and international organizations don’t praise China, they pander to its “increasing global influence”
• Chinese people don’t attend rallies, they “descend” upon them
• Chinese media doesn’t report news, it reports “propaganda”
• China doesn’t revise counting methodologies, it “under-reports” cases
• China doesn’t treat patients, it “rounds them up
• China doesn’t enforce quarantines, “it enforces “lockdowns”
• China doesn’t requisition private hospitals during a health emergency by passing laws, it “seizes” them
• Chinese companies don’t innovate, they “steal IP”
• Chinese people are not patriotic, they’re “brainwashed”
• China’s government doesn’t face governance challenges, they face “threats” to their rule
• China “seizes” hospitals and hotels during a pandemic, other countries “nationalize” them
• Chinese provinces don’t win PISA tests, they “selectively nominate the best schools”
• China is not good at AI, it simply has “loose privacy controls” and the “largest datasets”
• Chinese athletes don’t win medals, they are “picked from school, often against their parents’ wishes” and train in “secretive” training camps
• CCTV is not more popular than BBC on Facebook, it “fools algorithms” and creates “bogus followers”
• China doesn’t ban the import of addictive drugs like Opium — it “renounces free trade”
• Chinese celebrities don’t love their country and post patriotic messages on social media — they “pander” to the CCP and “nationalistic” fans
• HK rioters don’t storm and destroy LegCo — the HK police “stand back” and let them do it
• HK rioters don’t beat and burn and kill civilians, commit arson, build bombs, destroy subway stations, set fire to buildings, block traffic — they “retaliate” against police brutality
• Western countries don’t have nuclear weapons, they have “nuclear deterrents”
• US corporations don’t bribe politicians, they “lobby” them
• White people in non-white countries are “expats”. Non-white people in white countries are “immigrants” or “refugees”
• Unfriendly countries don’t have governments, they have “regimes”
• Citizens of unfriendly countries don’t display “patriotism”, they display “nationalism”
• The US has Bushes, a Clintons, and Trumps, other countries have “powerful families”, “clans”, and “princelings”
• Spain “nationalizes” hospitals. China “seizes” them.
• When the US does it, it “ignored experts’ warnings”. When China does it, it’s a “cover up”.
• China launches “propaganda” — while the US launches a “communications plan”
• China “hoards” medical supplies, Canada “reserves” them.
• Dissidents who kill white people are terrorists and murderers and deserve to be killed extrajudicially in cold blood; terrorists who kill non-white people are dissidents and activists who deserve free speech and a fair trial.

Original Twitter thread, with examples and links:
https://twitter.com/MaitreyaBhakal/status/1227886303120773121

Also published at India’s China Blog