Edinburgh residents have received a right wing magazine published in the US that blames the Chinese Communist party for the coronavirus.
A 32-page publication by "The Epoch Times” has dropped through letterboxes in the Capital this morning.
It claims covid-19, which has caused the death of thousands of people in the UK, should instead be called the “CCP virus”.
Concerned parliamentarians hit out the development. Labour MSP Neil Findlay said: “The last thing we need is cranky conspiracy theories and misinformation. We need to know who is behind this.”
Scottish Greens MSP Ross Greer said: “No-one should be fooled by this glossy magazine, it is nothing more than dangerous propaganda from a fringe extremist group."
Founded in 2000 by Americans linked to Falun Gong, a spiritual movement in China, The Epoch Times has been described as “one of the most mysterious fixtures of the pro-Trump media universe.”
According to the New Statesman magazine, an NBC News investigation from last year found that the outlet spent more than $1.5 million on around 11,000 pro-Trump advertisements over a six month period.
It also echoes the US president’s view on coronavirus by focusing on China.
The organisation’s attempt at influencing opinion outside the US is now coming under scrutiny.
It was reported this week that people in Oakville, Etobicoke, Markham, and Toronto in Canada had received copies of a special edition of the publication.
The front page of the magazine posted to homes in Edinburgh refers to the “CCP virus” and “how the Chinese Communist Party’s cover-up led to a global pandemic”.
A “publisher’s note” on page two, in the name of Stephen Gregory, says the edition is trying to set “the record straight” on the CCP’s role in the crisis.
Articles focus on what it regards as the CCP’s role in the crisis and a timeline is also included. One headline reads:
“Time has come to remove the cancer of the CCP.”
On the name of the virus, the paper stated: “Others have referred to it as the “Wuhan virus”, after its place of origin, as is common in naming diseases.
“The Epoch Times suggests a more accurate name is the “CCP virus”, and calls upon others to join us in adopting this name.”
It added that covid-19 is a "communist virus".
A UK “return address” in London’s Mare Street is printed on the back.
Greer added that the magazine was a "deflection from the failings of the American President’s response to this crisis, and we cannot let Trump’s supporters import their conspiracy theories here too".
