Chinese state media initially called it "Wuhan virus"; now China says that's racist. Meanwhile WHO won't call the coronavirus by its name, SARS-CoV-2, which some Chinese scientists say hurts social stability. On the fraught geopolitics of naming the virus:
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Xinhua & Global Times called it "Wuhan virus" early on. That's no longer convenient for the CCP as it seeks to wrest control of the narrative, so last week the foreign ministry called Pompeo's use of the phrase "Wuhan coronavirus" a "despicable practice"
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Here's another: a Jan. 25 Global Times piece published on the People's Daily site, two days after Wuhan was locked down. Then on the right we have a Xinhua commentary dated Feb. 13 in which "Wuhan virus" is condemned as "racist."
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The wrangle over the geopolitics of naming the virus continues:
Wow. German media reports the G7 haven’t been able to agree on a joint statement on COVID-19 because of Pompeo’s insistence that it refer to it as the “Wuhan virus.”
The other countries “reject a label that suggests the pandemic is a Chinese problem”
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Global Times is busy scrubbing all mentions of "Wuhan pneumonia / virus" in their stories. On Google search, the headline still shows "Wuhan pneumonia"—but click to th estory and it now reads "novel pneumonia"
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And if you can't scrub 'em, delete 'em. (But they can't delete the archived version: )
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@maryhui
Why don't use a name that's easy to remember and pronounce?
#WuhanVirus
Common people will call it whatever they like, anyway😐
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@maryhui
Chinese Virus
#ChineseCoronavirus
= Wuhan Corona Virus
#WuhanCoronavirus
= China Originated Virus
#COVID19
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