Pro-Trump ‘conspiracy’ newspaper targets Peterborough residents with claims of China coronavirus ‘cover-up’

A 16 page magazine from The Epoch Times has been received by residents in the Ortons this morning (Monday) after being delivered by Royal Mail.

The title is fiercely opposed to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and was founded in the United States in 2000 by Chinese citizens who “fled” to the US.

Its website said it was formed “in response to communist repression and censorship in China”.

However, its reputation has grown for being supportive of Donald Trump and for allegedly publishing conspiracy theories.

The New York Times said it has posted ads which alleged that Barack Obama and his allies placed a spy inside President Trump’s 2016 campaign and that the opioid epidemic in the US was the result of a chemical warfare plot by the CCP.

The New Statesman in the UK described it as a newspaper that has “devoted extensive funding and support to Donald Trump in the US and far-right groups in Europe”.

It also claimed that it has been targeting councillors across the UK with claims that the CCP covered up the coronavirus pandemic for six weeks.

The magazine sent through to residents in Peterborough repeats this claim and calls coronavirus the “CCP virus”.

Cllr Julie Howell, Green Party representative for Orton Waterville on Peterborough City Council, told the Peterborough Telegraph: “Some of those Orton residents who received this magazine unsolicited through with their post today have told me they are very unhappy about it.

“The pro-Trump magazine is American in origin and the publisher’s intention appears to be to use the Covid-19 emergency to attract new subscribers. I’m told residents are throwing it straight into their recycling bins.

“In these very challenging times, when councillors are using leaflets to communicate vital information to local communities, it is most unhelpful that this kind of thing is appearing on residents’ doormats.”

The Epoch Times says on its website that it is “independent of any influence from corporations, governments or political parties”.

Approached for comment by the Peterborough Telegraph, a spokesperson pointed the PT to a post on its website which reads: “The Epoch Times recently published a print edition of a special edition on how Beijing’s cover-up of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan led to the global pandemic with the front-page headline ‘How the Chinese Communist Party Endangered the World’.

“The special edition, which contains a collection of Epoch Times articles, is being distributed to select areas as we believe it contains important information for people, as well as allows people to become familiar with our content and subscribe.

“Because of the good response to the special edition in the United States, it was then distributed by other local Epoch Times editions.”

The full article can be read at: https://www.theepochtimes.com/statement-on-epoch-times-special-edition-on-coronavirus-pandemic_3371229.html.