Mar 22, 2020 - Health

Highlights from Chinese ambassador's "Axios on HBO" interview

Jonathan Swan, Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian

The "Axios on HBO" interview with China's ambassador to the U.S. Cui Tiankai had tense moments.

What they're saying: At one point, during an exchange about allegations of torture from former Muslim detainees in Xinjiang camps, Cui said it would not be productive to keep discussing such matters. At another point, he accused Axios of insulting the Chinese Communist Party and equated the Party with the Chinese people.

  • Amid extended questioning over the timeline of Chinese authorities suppressing doctors and censoring crucial public health information that could have saved lives, Cui said, "What happened to Dr. Li and his colleagues now is under investigation by the central government."
  • Li Wenliang, the Chinese doctor, who was reprimanded for sounding the alarm on the potential of a deadly coronavirus outbreak, has been exonerated, per Politico.

On the expulsion of American journalists from China:

  • "Axios on HBO": "I read that column in the Wall Street Journal and it didn't seem to me that there was anything that would violate a law in it. It was really criticizing...
  • Cui: "That article was very insulting on the entire Chinese nation.
  • "Axios on HBO": "I'm sure people will disagree, Mr. Ambassador. ... The question is whether it's a good idea to expel reporters because of something you disagree with."
  • Cui: "Maybe the first question you have to ask, whether it's a good idea to write such an article at all."

On the disappearances of Chinese citizen journalists who were reporting on the coronavirus from inside Wuhan:

  • "Axios on HBO": "Where is the citizen journalist Chen Qiushi? He was doing some of the early videos from inside Wuhan that were showing the response to the virus and the chaos that was happening inside Wuhan."
  • Cui: "I have not heard of this person."
  • "Axios on HBO": "Really? Chen Qiushi?"
  • Cui: "Why not?"
  • "Axios on HBO": "Well you were asked about him on "Face the Nation" on February 9."
  • Cui: "No, I was not asked about any particular journalist."
  • "Axios on HBO": "You were. ... I watched the clip. Margaret Brennan named Chen Qiushi."
  • Cui: "But I did not know him then. I don't know him now."
  • "Axios on HBO": "Well, it's a month later. Weren't you curious to find out who he was?"
  • Cui: "We have 1.4 billion people back in China. How can I learn everything about everybody?"

Go deeper:

Go deeper

Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian

China takes a page from Russia's disinformation playbook

Photo Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photos: Drew Angerer/Getty Images and Stringer/Getty Images

The Chinese Communist Party has spent the past week publicly pushing conspiracy theories intended to cast doubt on the origins of the coronavirus, and thus deflect criticism over China's early mishandling of the epidemic.

Why it matters: The strategy is a clear departure from Beijing's previous disinformation tactics and signals its increasingly aggressive approach to managing its image internationally.

Go deeperArrowMar 25, 2020 - World
Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, Zachary Basu

China bans journalists from 3 major U.S. newspapers

Xi Jinping. Photo: Noel Celis - Pool/Getty Images

The Chinese government announced Tuesday that it will revoke press credentials for American journalists who work for the New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal and whose credentials were set to expire in 2020, retaliating for state media restrictions by the Trump administration.

Why it matters: It's an escalation of a media war — in the midst of a global pandemic — that will result in U.S. journalists effectively being expelled from China. The journalists will not be permitted to work in Hong Kong or Macao, which is typically what blacklisted journalists have done in the past.

Go deeperArrowMar 17, 2020 - World
Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian

Timeline: The early days of China's coronavirus outbreak and cover-up

Photo Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios Photos: Stringer/Getty Images, Feature China/Barcroft Media via Getty Images, Peng/Xinhua via Getty via Getty Images

Axios has compiled a timeline of the earliest weeks of the coronavirus outbreak in China, highlighting when the cover-up started and ended — and showing how, during that time, the virus already started spreading around the world, including to the United States.

Why it matters: A study published in March indicated that if Chinese authorities had acted three weeks earlier than they did, the number of coronavirus cases could have been reduced by 95% and its geographic spread limited.

Go deeperArrowMar 18, 2020 - World