Top European Union diplomat denies bowing to China pressure

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European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, right, wears a mouth mask after addressing a video press conference at the conclusion of a video conference of EU foreign affairs ministers in Brussels, Wednesday, April 22, 2020. (Olivier Hoslet, Pool Photo via AP)

BRUSSELS – The European Union’s top diplomat denied Thursday that his agency bowed to pressure from China and watered down a report that criticized the country's role in promoting disinformation about the coronavirus.

In an April 24 article, the New York Times said EU officials had ā€œsoftened their criticism of Chinaā€ in a report on the way governments push disinformation during the pandemic because the officials were ā€œworried about the repercussionsā€ of angering one of the bloc’s biggest trading partners.

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The article, backed by internal email correspondence, caused an uproar at the European Parliament, with EU lawmakers angry that the 27-nation bloc’s reputation was at stake. The assembly’s foreign affairs committee demanded that EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell explain.

During a grilling via videoconference, Borrell said the newspaper had compared the contents of a report meant for internal use within the External Action Service — essentially the EU’s foreign office — with a different document prepared for broader publication on the agency’s website.

Borrell acknowledged that China did complain about the report, but he said that kind of objection was ā€œthe daily breadā€ of diplomacy and insisted Beijing had absolutely no influence on thinking inside the EU agency.

Chinese officials ā€œexpressed their concern through the diplomatic channels,ā€ but the text published on the EUvsDisinfo website remains critical of China and speaks for itself, Borrell said.

ā€œFor sure, they were not happy. They will continue not being happy,ā€ he said.

ā€œThere was no watering-down of our findings,ā€ the EU diplomat said. He underlined the bloc’s policy toward Beijing as treating it ā€œas a key partner, but also a competitor and a systemic rival.ā€

While some lawmakers accepted Borrell’s explanation, quite a few were critical. Some demanded to see all versions of the reports.

ā€œHonestly, your explanation doesn’t really convince me,ā€ Belgian parliamentarian Hilde Vautmans said, going on to ask Borrell to tell lawmakers ā€œwho interfered, which Chinese official put pressure, at what level, what means of pressure. I think that Europe needs to know that otherwise we’re losing all credibility.ā€

The public report — a ā€œShort Assessment of Narratives and Disinformationā€ surrounding the coronavirus — points to what the authors described as evidence of ā€œa coordinated push by official Chinese sources to deflect any blame for the outbreak of the pandemic and publicizing announcements and deliveries of bilateral assistance.ā€

The report also states that ā€œChinese officials and state media try to curtail any mentions of Wuhan as the origin of COVID-19.ā€

The report is more critical of Russia’s role in the spread of coronavirus-linked fake news.


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