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The Politicization of COVID-19 Origin Stories: Insights from a Cross-Sectional Survey in China

Author

Listed:
  • Annah Lake Zhu

    (Environmental Policy Group, Wageningen University, 6706 KN Wageningen, The Netherlands)

  • Ruishan Chen

    (School of Design, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China)

  • Jessica Rizzolo

    (Independent Researcher, Chicago, IL 60614, USA)

  • Xiaodan Li

    (Environmental Policy Group, Wageningen University, 6706 KN Wageningen, The Netherlands
    College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agriculture University, Beijing 100193, China)

Abstract

The search for the origins of COVID-19 has yielded no conclusive evidence. In the face of this uncertainty, other social and political factors can influence perceptions of virus origins, which in turn can influence policy formation and global efforts to combat future pandemics. Vastly different COVID-19 origin stories may circulate both within the same country but also between different countries. This article examines COVID-19 origins debates as they circulate in China, drawing from a 974-respondent survey conducted in mainland China. Our results show that within China there is a strong belief that COVID-19 originated outside the country, either in the United States or Europe. This contrasts with mainstream media coverage in the United State and Europe, which generally holds that the virus most likely originated in China. Given such global dissonance, moving forward with pandemic prevention reforms is challenging. Yet, even in the face of such diverse beliefs, building support for reform is still possible. As the search for COVID-19 continues, policy reform can be pursued across a plurality of domains, including wet markets, the wildlife trade, cold-chain products, and gain-of-function virology research, all in the interest of preventing the next global pandemic.

Suggested Citation

  • Annah Lake Zhu & Ruishan Chen & Jessica Rizzolo & Xiaodan Li, 2023. "The Politicization of COVID-19 Origin Stories: Insights from a Cross-Sectional Survey in China," Societies, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-20, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:13:y:2023:i:2:p:37-:d:1057896
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Junming Huang & Gavin G. Cook & Yu Xie, 2021. "Large-scale quantitative evidence of media impact on public opinion toward China," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-8, December.
    2. Santosh Vijaykumar & Yan Jin & Daniel Rogerson & Xuerong Lu & Swati Sharma & Anna Maughan & Bianca Fadel & Mariella Silva Oliveira Costa & Claudia Pagliari & Daniel Morris, 2021. "How shades of truth and age affect responses to COVID-19 (Mis)information: randomized survey experiment among WhatsApp users in UK and Brazil," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Dyani Lewis, 2021. "Can COVID spread from frozen wildlife? Scientists probe pandemic origins," Nature, Nature, vol. 591(7848), pages 18-19, March.
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