The coronavirus pandemic made Europe’s anger and distrust toward China decisive.
Drawing from an article by Noboru Okabe, an editorial writer for the Sankei Shimbun, this piece examines the growing movement in Britain, the EU, NATO, and Sweden toward reducing dependence on China, as well as China’s mask diplomacy, disinformation campaigns, and hybrid warfare.

June 12, 2020
In Europe, anger toward China, which has revealed its overbearing and grotesque nature of “making others feel obliged instead of apologizing,” has become decisive.
The monthly magazine I am referring to is essential reading not only for the Japanese people but also for people all over the world.
After all, despite being filled with genuine articles such as this one, it costs only 950 yen.
The following is from an article by Noboru Okabe, an editorial writer for the Sankei Shimbun, published in this month’s issue of the monthly magazine WiLL under the title, “The EU and Britain Are Furious with China: Five Japanese Prescriptions for Breaking Away from China.”
This article clearly shows that newspapers such as the Asahi Shimbun and television broadcasters such as NHK no longer have the substance of news organizations at all, and that they are completely under the influence, that is, under the control, of China.
Emphasis in the text, except for headings, is mine.
Japan’s dependence on China had gone too far.
The global tide is toward breaking away from China.
Do not misread the “war situation” of the coronavirus.
The anger of the EU.
In response to the global pandemic of the novel coronavirus, moves toward “breaking away from China” have become conspicuous in Europe.
Taking Europe as a reference, I would like to explore Japan’s “path toward breaking away from China.”
In Britain in particular, where Prime Minister Johnson was at one point in serious condition in an intensive care unit, Prince Charles was infected, and more than 34,000 people had died as of May 18, the largest number of victims in Europe, backlash and suspicion are growing, with former Foreign Secretary Hague saying that Britain should “break away from dependence on China in areas such as 5G and fundamentally ‘reset’ relations with China.”
The novel coronavirus exposed Europe’s divisions.
The European Union, established for the purpose of preventing war, had led globalization since the end of the Cold War, but in the face of the coronavirus, the first situation comparable to war, each country closed its borders, breaking the principle of “freedom of movement,” and revealed its dysfunction.
When infections spread in Italy, every country turned toward nationalism, and there was little joint procurement of medical supplies, sharing of medical information, common medical strategy, or mutual support.
Far from showing the unity of a community, the EU revealed its true nature of “putting one’s own country first,” and can no longer criticize U.S. President Trump for building a wall on the border with Mexico, nor can it criticize Britain for leaving as “selfish.”
The country that slipped into this vacuum of state power was China.
Beginning with Italy, China developed “mask diplomacy,” sending medical supplies and doctors to about 150 countries around the world, including European nations, as if it were a “savior.”
However, defective products that did not meet domestic quality standards were found in countries such as Spain and the Netherlands, and because China had previously driven developing countries into a debt trap through the “Belt and Road” initiative, making them “debt-ridden” and taking control of management rights, suspicion and backlash spread instead.
Furthermore, as Europe watched China’s campaign for “systemic superiority,” claiming through its embassies around the world that the authoritarian system that contained infections through surveillance using big data was superior to democracy, anger toward China, which had revealed its overbearing and grotesque nature of “making others feel obliged instead of apologizing,” became decisive.
China has neither expressed “regret” for spreading the virus around the world nor disclosed virus-related data.
On the contrary, regarding the origin of the coronavirus, Zhao Lijian, deputy spokesperson of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, claimed on Twitter that “the U.S. military brought the infection to Wuhan,” and spread false propaganda around the world portraying it as an “American conspiracy.”
After fierce backlash from the United States, he later corrected it, but Russia and Iran joined in, and it developed into an information war in which they claimed that “the source of infection was Europe and the United States.”
The method of spreading false information on Twitter is the same as Russia’s interference operations in the 2015 U.S. presidential election and the 2016 British referendum on leaving the EU.
Swedish Defense Minister Hultqvist saw through it, calling it “a disinformation campaign coordinated by China and Russia.”
In Sweden, local governments have successively terminated sister-city relationships with China, including those between the central city of Dalarna and Wuhan.
The reason is China’s intimidating attitude toward the Swedish government and journalists.
All Confucius Institutes funded by the Chinese government will also be closed.
In April, the European External Action Service, the EU’s foreign ministry, which is wary of information warfare on social media, published a report stating that “organizations supported by China and Russia are spreading conspiracy theories and disinformation.”
In the same month, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization also held a defense ministers’ meeting by video conference and, with China in mind, criticized the situation by saying that “state and non-state actors are spreading false and harmful narratives and dividing Europe and America,” according to Secretary General Stoltenberg.
U.S. Ambassador to NATO Hutchison expressed vigilance, saying that China, taking Russia as its model, is “launching part of a hybrid war,” combining military and non-military power.
This article continues.