The most relevant topics in the foreign media space dealt with the impact of coronavirus on the world economy and the major commodities, stock and currency markets. They point to a sharp drop in the Chinese stock market at the opening of the exchange markets after the Chinese holidays (February 03, 2020, after the Chinese New Year). The collapse of the market capitalization exceeded USD 350 billion, or about 8-9%. At the same time a depreciation of the yuan compared to the world currencies and the fall in energy prices due to falling demand from China were observed.
A number of media sources discussed the news that the Chinese authorities have been able to take advantage of the "information panic" in the markets and to buy back shares of technological and manufacturing companies located in China at reduced prices. At the same time the Chinese authorities imposed limits on the purchase of shares by foreign residents for the amount exceeding USD 10 million, thus restricting access of foreign speculators to the possibility of buying Chinese assets at a reduced price.
The West used the stoked media panic in their favor. The European media actively discusses the topic of introducing a new list of constraints (technical regulations) on the imported Chinese food products to the EU countries due to the high level of distrust to the procedure of compliance of the Chinese manufacturers with the epidemiological regulations. In this case, the same doubts were also expressed concerning the industrial products from China: the facts of deterrence of Chinese containers shipments both in the European and the US ports were registered.
At the same time the opinions of different research centers on the need for a harder conversation with the Chinese authorities for the "opening" of their industrial zones, ports, and other economic zones and access of the international experts is openly expressed.
In fact, the trend of "cracking" China and the devaluation of its status as a world power, suppression of Xi Jinping’s policy aimed at consolidation/closure of the country, internal cleansing and changing the old pro-capitalist (pro-Western) Chinese nomenclature clearly emerges.
In this context, the coronavirus should be seen as the next blow on China after the unrest in Hong Kong to destabilize the internal situation, the growth of nationalism, the resentment and discredit of the Xi Jinping’s policy and his entourage.
The transition to the rougher methods of information influence through the media indicates an unwillingness of the consolidated forces of the West (the US, the UK) to continue the long, exhausting and inefficient negotiations with Beijing within the framework of the so-called "Trade war".
These symptoms suggest the use by these powers of the new strategy on China, focused on the rapid "collapse" of China's strong position as a financial and economic center and the new integration area (New Silk Road - sea and land). At the same time, this approach pursues the purely materialistic aims of the corporations, designed to "haggling" new concessions from Beijing on access to the domestic Chinese market and ousting from the African continent, from the rare earth metal production market and suppressing the creation by China of the cargo shipping routes from Asia to Europe (land railway and vehicle routes through Kenya, Sudan, Egypt) as an alternative to the Suez Canal.
Events with coronavirus, the subsequent negative media campaign and markets downfalls are similar in their nature to the methods of the so-called "Opium Wars" in the XIX century, which the Anglo-Saxon companies used to receive the approval from the Chinese emperor to gain access to the continental ports. The essence of the war was "to hook" the Chinese population on the opium, and then to manifest the willingness to assist in healing the residents in the Heavenly from such dependence.