They came out one after another, with flourishes and fanfare. A six-hour documentary series showing the “heroic deeds of party members” and Wuhan’s “warriors in white coats.” A star-studded, 20-part drama fictionalizing Wuhan’s doctors, delivery drivers and construction workers. Another pandemic show, set to swelling choral music, that viewers said left them choked with tears.

Wuhan, once synonymous with the devastation that the coronavirus could wreak, has become the subject of glowing paeans across Chinese media, lauded by officials as a symbol of the country’s resilience in the outbreak’s aftermath.

Propaganda agencies have churned out the television tributes to the city, where the outbreak first emerged, while the national Ministry of Culture and Tourism sponsored a new opera about its doctors. State news outlets have emphasized a rush of tourists to Wuhan, and at least one hospital recently welcomed business executives for a tour.

Wuhan is getting such attention as a city of heroes in part because it has truly made a remarkable recovery. Cases there and nationwide now hover near zero as the United States and other countries still battle surges.

But the spate of acclamation is also part of a concerted campaign by the Chinese government to position Wuhan — and by extension China — as a global emblem of superior governance. It’s a propaganda push designed to help sand away any lingering public anger over the government’s costly missteps in the early weeks of the pandemic.

During the outbreak’s height in China, Wuhan was the epicenter of a rare outpouring of rage at authorities and their attempts to conceal the virus. The recent narratives rewrite the experience, celebrating only the success and leaving little room for grief….

The instructions of China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, echo throughout the episodes. In reality, he was largely absent in the outbreak’s first weeks….

A tight censorship regime makes it difficult to judge public opinion in China, and many of the episodes have been lauded online. But some have also drawn rebukes on social media, with viewers criticizing the gloss on the city’s suffering and overly tidy story of victory.

Guo Jing, a social worker and feminist activist who has published her diary of the Wuhan lockdown, said she worried the official narrative would prevent a true accounting of the crisis and make its heavy toll seem acceptable.

“This kind of narrative, it really does recognize everyone’s contributions and sacrifices,” Guo said. “But it also erases all the pain that people experienced, and it also doesn’t ask, were everyone’s sacrifices really necessary?”….

—-By Vivan Wang, Japan Times, Nov 7,2020

www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/11/07/asia-pacific/china-propaganda-wuhan-coronavirus/