Chinese state media has defended Wuhan residents after photos and video of a huge pool party went viral this week, saying complaints by foreigners were “sour grapes” .
Thousands of people celebrated at a water park music festival in Wuhan this week, crowded in front of the stage, shoulder to shoulder.
An AFP photo of the dance party drew some negative responses at Wuhan’s apparent return to normal life. A newspaper front page in Australia headlined the story as “China’s big party”, and “life’s a beach in Wuhan as world pays virus price”.
Chinese authorities have faced persistent criticisms over early attempts to cover up the coronavirus outbreak, with some world leaders saying they could have stopped its spread to other countries.
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— The Daily Telegraph (@dailytelegraph) August 18, 2020
Read today's paper: https://t.co/H9DzehmZVI pic.twitter.com/5ygCfbwLQ8
Social media comments said the Wuhan event was “a slap in the face to the rest of the world”, and accused people of “partying like the [virus] didn’t happen”.
Others defended the city, saying their strong response to Covid-19 “paid off”.
On Wednesday the state-backed Global Times dismissed attacks on the pool party as “sour grapes”. In an article it said Wuhan was “now welcoming an influx of tourists, and its economy is reviving, which local residents believed should not only be seen as a sign of the city’s return to normalcy, but also a reminder to countries grappling with the virus that strict preventive measures have a payback”.
VIDEO: 🇨🇳 Crowds packed out a water park over the weekend in the central Chinese city of #Wuhan, where the #coronavirus first emerged late last year, keen to party as the city edges back to normal life pic.twitter.com/SJFBmx5sU8
— AFP news agency (@AFP) August 17, 2020
The city of 11m was the first place to record an outbreak of Covid-19, and instituted a hard lockdown of residents which shocked observers. In the months since the virus has spread across much of the world, with numerous countries implementing their own hard lockdowns on residents.
Wuhan eventually came out of lockdown in April, after 76 days, but saw a new outbreak just a month later. Authorities reintroduced some measures and locked down parts of the city, and launched a mass testing program for all residents.
Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, recorded more than 68,000 infections in China’s 89,500 reported cases, and 4,512 of its 4,706 reported deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
