In the public sphere, though, anti-China sentiment has gone mainstream in a way usually reserved for India’s other rival, Pakistan. Prime-time news segments, if not entire shows, detail China’s role, and memes are proliferating on social media. They largely blame China for the origin of the virus, and criticize its lack of disclosure, its influence on the WHO, its sidelining of Taiwan, the quality of its medical supplies, and what are seen as its efforts to take diplomatic or commercial advantage of the crisis. While this outcome is not surprising for a country where only 23 percent of those surveyed in 2019 had a favorable view of China, there is little doubt that the crisis has intensified concern.
