Banners rallying the nation behind a cause and panicked citizens who hide in their homes and report on each other: China’s Communist Party has deployed an old toolkit to battle a new enemy. Authorities have tapped their propaganda powers to wage what President Xi Jinping has dubbed a “people’s war” against the new coronavirus that has killed more than 1,300 people and infected nearly 60,000. Xi has paid tribute to “comrades… on the frontline” while state media has heralded the importance of patriotism in tackling the outbreak in a campaign reminiscent of Chairman Mao’s cries to mobilise the masses.
