A history textbook for school students in China has mentioned the country’s Covid pandemic response. But this sparked a discussion online with some questioning whether the book’s description of China’s fight against Covid is truthful. According to a report by BBC on Thursday (April 27), a short clip showing a paragraph of a history textbook for grade eight students on Douyin, China’s domestic version of TikTok, started trending on Wednesday.
The video was uploaded by a user who appeared to be a history teacher. The caption of the post said, “It’s already written in the history books.”
The textbook was published by People’s Education Press, a major publishing house in China. And the Covid reference appeared in the section featuring “changes in social life,” the BBC reported.
The report said that next to a paragraph that described the increasing Chinese incomes and lifestyle changes since the country opened up in the 1970s, a text box mentioned the “war on Covid.”
The text box read that China adhered to the supremacy of people and life, and protected people’s life safety and health to the largest extent. “We achieved major achievements in coordinating the prevention and control of the pandemic,” it added.
The textbook’s narrative echoed the government’s declaration over the pandemic. However, many people raised questions about whether it contained the whole truth.
The BBC reported that on the Douyin platform, the topic- History textbook includes Covid response- has been viewed more than five million times.
“Is there any mention of how it ended?” a Douyin user wrote. “How come you have the cheek to write it in there?” another user said. A third user on the platform, meanwhile, said that every single character on that page “seems to be mocking our painful three years.”
For the last three years when the Covid pandemic emerged, China imposed an array of anti-virus controls to try to eliminate Covid from the country including lockdowns and regular mass testing. However, in December last year, the government suddenly rolled back the zero-Covid curbs following widespread protests against the policy, and scrapping quarantine for passengers arriving from abroad in early January this year.
From Saturday, travellers entering China will no longer be required to provide a negative PCR test result.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said, “In order to further facilitate the exchange of Chinese and foreign personnel, in line with the principles of science, precision, safety, and order, China will further optimize the arrangements for remote (COVID-19) testing.
“Starting April 29, everyone entering China can take an antigen test instead of a nucleic acid test within 48 hours prior to boarding the plane. Airlines no longer need to check (COVID-19) test results before boarding,” Ning added.
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