Bad Image, Yet Still Convincing? Examining the Chinese Government’s Image Repair Strategy in Responding to Accusations of COVID-19 Origin

This study’s purpose is (1) to examine the crisis response strategy that the Chinese government used to respond to the allegation of COVID-19’s origin, (2) to discuss if officials’ image repair strategies were effective, and (3) to explore the role of culture that led to the use of strategy and conflicts. Textual and content analysis of press remarks from the Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs and related government departments were used in the study. In general, the officials’ initial responses were accommodative, gradually shifting toward aggression. In response strategy selection, officials predominantly used bolstering, followed by attacking accusers and adaptive information, without issuing an apology in the whole process. Interestingly, although the response strategy generated a negative image in the United States and Australia, its image repair discourse was somewhat convincing. Drawing from Hall’s high- versus low-context culture and Hofstede’s culture dimension, the mismatch of two communication styles may exacerbate the conflicts. The study also points out experiments or surveys that can be done in future studies to validate current findings.