The death toll in China due to the coronavirus outbreak (nCoV) rose to 425 by Monday, the National Health Commission said on Tuesday, and the approach of Chinese diplomats through their Twitter handles in fighting the “online war of perception” for China reflects how the Chinese regime has been working hard to minimise the impact of the outbreak on its economy even as economists try to estimate the virus' impact on its gross domestic product.


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Twitter handles of Chinese Diplomats like Lijian Zhao (Deputy Director-General, Information Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China), Sun Weidong (Chinese Ambassador to India), Liu Xiaoming (Chinese Ambassador to the UK), Chinese Ambassador to South Africa (@AmbLINSongtian), or Yao Jing, Chinese Emb Pakistan @CathayPak, each one of them have been tweeting on China ‘successfully’ handling the situation. 


Yao Jing, Chinese ambassador to Pakistan on Tuesday tweeted, “CPEC will not be affected by #Coronavirus. It is long-term cooperation between the two countries. The Chinese Government and people is firmly committed to the BRI and CPEC cooperation with Pakistan.” He also tweeted a link to an article published in People’s Daily titled, “A Good Neighbour Is A Blessing". Pakistan is one of the few countries that has stood with its “all-weather ally” China and not evacuated its citizens amid the virus outbreak. As many as 27,000 Pakistani nationals are in China among which 1500 are in Hubei and 559 in Wuhan, which is also the epicentre of the Coronavirus outbreak. The Ambassador also tweeted a video titled “Pak China Dosti Zindabad!” in which students from the University of Sargodha expressed their support to China on nCoV in the Chinese Language. 



Lin Songtian, Chinese Ambassador to South Africa, has been fighting the “digital war” and allying Africa’s fear of the virus. The Ambassador claimed there is no need for Africans to panic over nCoV. China is South Africa’s largest trading partner and more than 3000 South African nationals reside in China. The Ambassador advised the South African nationals in China to remain in place. The ambassador took to twitter and retweeted a China Daily tweet saying, ‘This is the way we will win the global battles, now not only in China, but in the world.’



In a tweet, later on, he again emphasized on China’s capability to fight the outbreak saying, “This is the ways we are fighting against the epidemic,” while he retweeted a video of China Daily depicting a renovation of the city's sports stadium and two convention centres into three mobile cabin hospitals to treat nCoV patients. 


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As the other Chinese Diplomats were on defensive mode displaying and talking about Chinese government’s efforts on effectively handling the situation, Lijian Zhao, Deputy Director-General, Information Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China went one step further and attacked the U.S. for “scaremongering”. Lijan in a series of tweets on Tuesday accused US politicians of using nCoV to attack China. He also said that “Such an act is disgraceful by any social moral standards.” He went on saying, “Nobody should underestimate China's ability to fight a public health crisis. As we can take measures that many countries cannot take, we can quickly recover after the crisis. Some countries should not hurt Chinese people's feelings when China is in temporary difficulties.” 



Lijan compared the 2019-nCoV situation to that of H1N1 flu virus with the US as one of the original sites of the outbreak. “It killed 284,000 people worldwide, & WHO declared the flu a PBEIC. However, the US failed to adopt effective control measures, causing a worldwide spread of H1N1. 2019-20 flu season is 'on track for one of the worst flu seasons in decades,”' he added. 
 
While its diplomat brigade is doing the job on social media platforms, the Chinese government continues to take measures to contain the nCoV. This also reflects China’s damage control through social media platforms to reduce panic among citizens around the world regarding China, as a continued ban on travel to China from different countries hurt Chinese economic interests. 


With worrying signs in Chinese and Asian markets, China's central bank injected 1.2 trillion-yuan ($174 billion) worth of liquidity into money markets, after promising to help companies struggling due to the virus.


Meanwhile, the deadly virus that has gone beyond China claimed a second life outside China. Hong Kong reported its first coronavirus death on Tuesday, the Philippines was the first country to report death caused due to Coronavirus.  The U.S. State Dept in its latest travel advisory asked its citizens not to travel to China because of the threat posed to life by nCoV, issuing an advisory level at 4, deeming it the highest safety risk.