As the spread of the novel coronavirus places the EU in deep crisis, China and Russia are expanding their influence in Europe through medical aid. This essay examines China’s “mask diplomacy,” its promotion of conspiracy theories blaming the United States, and the danger of dependence on China from pandemic containment to 5G, while highlighting the growing Western caution toward China.

April 21, 2020
He warned that “if China, while having generated the virus, spreads a ‘conspiracy theory’ blaming the United States and refuses to follow Western rules, then dependence on China should be ended, from infection containment to next-generation communications, 5G.”
The following is from an essay by Shin Okabe published in today’s Sankei Shimbun under the title, “Beware the ulterior motive behind the masks.”
The novel coronavirus spread across the world in the blink of an eye.
In Europe, which became the epicenter of the pandemic, the European Union, the child of globalism, is being placed in a difficult situation.
Because of the slogan “Europe is one,” people were able to move without border inspections, and that became one factor in the spread of infection.
However, once infection spread throughout Italy, every country instantly turned toward nationalism and closed its borders.
Even in the joint procurement of medical supplies and the issuance of corona bonds for economic support to affected countries, they could not act in step.
Far from showing the unity of a community, the EU is facing “the greatest test since its founding,” in the words of German Chancellor Merkel, and is struggling to contain the infection, unable to lift city lockdowns.
If division continues, a power vacuum will emerge in post-corona Europe.
It is China and Russia that are “invading” Europe, where such a power vacuum is emerging, through medical assistance.
China sent medical teams three times to Italy, where the medical system had “collapsed.”
It displayed the honeymoon relationship with Italy, the first G7 country to sign a memorandum of understanding promoting the Belt and Road Initiative.
When medical masks and ventilators were donated, Serbian President Vucic said, “European solidarity does not exist. The only one that can help us is our ‘brother’ China,” exposing the disunity of Europe.
In Serbia too, there was a great fool in power.
The Czech Republic, which had been anti-China over the Taiwan issue, abruptly turned pro-China when China airlifted 1.1 million masks and ventilators.
The Czech Republic too has unfortunately come to this state.
China’s “mask diplomacy,” said to have sent 3.8 billion masks, medical supplies, and medical teams to 127 countries, should originally be a soft power deserving praise.
However, defects in medical supplies have been discovered one after another, and caution is spreading, as seen in the words of French Minister of State for European Affairs Amelie de Montchalin, who said that China is “using aid to strengthen its political influence.”
In addition to the stigma of being the place where the virus emerged, China likely has the ulterior motive of evading criticism that its initial response was delayed and that it spread the virus throughout the world.
There is also visible intent in China’s propaganda that, having contained the infection through an authoritarian system, it is “superior to the democratic model of the United States and Europe.”
Indeed, the Chinese Communist Party-affiliated Global Times praises China itself, saying that “China has achieved a phased victory in infection countermeasures” and that “the coronavirus has ended the American century in which the United States cannot help other countries.”
Furthermore, a chemical weapons expert testified in an Italian newspaper that among the medical team dispatched to Italy by the Russian government were spies from the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, the GRU, and caution toward Russian assistance is also deepening.
China’s Deputy Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian and others have claimed a “conspiracy theory” that the U.S. military brought the virus into China.
Russia and Iran have joined this information war.
In response, Swedish Defense Minister Hultqvist has heightened his caution, saying that “Chinese and Russian media are engaged in disinformation campaigns to damage the response to the crisis.”
Michael Sobolik, a researcher at the American Foreign Policy Council, criticized China’s match-pump conduct in National Review, saying that China hid the coronavirus outbreak, fanned its spread and started the fire of a great infection, and then, while concealing its responsibility, pretended to help the countries suffering from infection and extinguish the fire, “playing the role of both arsonist and firefighter.”
Former British Foreign Secretary Hague gave an online lecture on the 14th and warned that “if China, while having generated the virus, spreads a ‘conspiracy theory’ blaming the United States and refuses to follow Western rules, then dependence on China should be ended, from infection containment to next-generation communications, 5G.”
In Europe and the United States, “China caution theory,” namely “do not be deceived by China’s strategy,” is growing stronger.
Editorial writer.