The Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Chinese Model of Governance and China’s Propaganda

The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (hereafter “COVID-19”) in China since
January 2020 once made China the worst-hit country as its confirmed positives and death tolls were at the top of the world. Nevertheless, the Chinese government’s rigorous control has flattened its curve of COVID-19 infection as of May 2020, which facilitates the Chinese government’s propaganda in two aspects through the massive publicity it has generated worldwide. On the one hand, the Chinese government makes use of its propaganda to strengthen domestic confidence in its achievement of combatting COVID-19. On the other hand, China also is leveraging its propaganda to argue with the Western countries not only about shifting the blame over the spread of the novel coronavirus, but also for strengthening the superiority of the Chinese model of governance; hence, using propaganda to get itself a bigger say and build a stronger image of China in future international political issues.
This paper analyzes how the Chinese model of governance is leveraged to address the COVID-19 crisis. For China, propaganda is not only a window display but also is a major part of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s governance, especially on handling the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. The CCP shares the same logic on economic development and leveraging its propaganda: the economic development offers materials and resources for propaganda, and both the economic development and propaganda serve as tools for consolidating the CCP’s rule in China. The COVID-19 pandemic may have bolstered the Chinese government’s confidence in its governance, which may lead the Chinese government to have more input on its propaganda projects.