【英文】荷兰国际关系研究所报告：COVID-19与欧洲、中国的关系（82页）

Four major strands of messaging can be identified in the Chinese narrative  on social media. The first message promotes China as acting in solidarity, helping  others by providing aid. The second strand encourages international unity in the  fight against the pandemic. Both components are directly linked to Beijing’s core  concept of a “community of shared future for mankind”, in which China  undertakes an active role as responsible global actor. The third strand  emphasizes China’s success in dealing with the epidemic thanks to its  technological prowess, in line with Xi Jinping’s ambition to see China at the  forefront of innovation. The fourth trajectory aims at undermining criticism of the  government’s management of the outbreak, including Beijing’s systematic efforts  to debunk the idea that the virus originated in a lab in Wuhan, an idea which has  found fertile ground in Italy.

While preferences at the societal level are hard to define, the views of Italian  political parties appear unchanged. The Five Star Movement, the party most  positive about China, has retained its position. Luigi Di Maio, former leader of the  Movement and staunch supporter of the BRI MoU, has actively promoted  engagement with China for the acceptance of aid. He tried to capitalise on the  moment and attempted to give a new shine to the MoU.4 Moreover, recent  declarations from other prominent party members seems to suggest that the Five  star Movement is increasingly consolidating its utilitarian position in favour of  China, to be used also as leverage against the EU. The right and the centre-right have remained China-sceptic and have at  times used the Five Star Movement’s proximity to China to pressure the  government. Matteo Salvini (Lega) shared a 2015 video by Italy’s state television  RAI, which documented China’s work at the Wuhan lab, claiming that this was  somehow evidence of the artificial origin of the coronavirus. He stated that: “if  China knew of the virus, it should then be prosecuted for crimes against  humanity”. Antonio Tajani, vice-president of the European Parliament and a  leading figure within Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party, has declared that  solidarity cannot be used to promote the BRI and sneak in deals concerning Italy’s  strategic infrastructure.