Source: Fondation pour la Recherche stratégique
With more than 102,000 cases and the sad record of 12,000 deaths as of March 31, 2020, Italy was the European country most affected by Covid-19 at that time. It is also one of the countries that are keeping the Chinese authorities most busy through a vast operation involving sending masks, respirators, diagnostic tests as well as visits by Chinese experts to Italy, including the vice-president of the Chinese Red Cross, Sun Shuopeng, who in March advised Italian people to ”work harder” to stop the epidemic. For his part, Jack Ma, the founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba, offered a million masks and tests through his foundation. All these actions are relayed by a propaganda campaign via the Chinese embassy in Rome and the official press.
This article was originally published by Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique
