China accuses ‘some Western media’ of COVID-19 coverage bias

Beijing: China on Thursday accused "some Western media" of bias, smears and political manipulation in their coverage of China's abrupt ending of its strict "zero-COVID" policy, as it issued a vigorous defense of actions taken to prepare for the change of strategy. The move in December to end mass testing and quarantines led to a sharp rise in cases, with some hospitals and crematoriums overwhelmed with victims. An editorial in the ruling Communist Party mouthpiece People's Daily outlined what it called China's "optimization and control measures" and blasted reports by media outlets they didn't identify as "completely biased hype, smear…