Hu Xijin, Editor-in-Chief of the Global Times, in an article in the newspaper on December 29, criticised individuals in the West and the Western media for encouraging the Chinese citizen-journalist Zhang Zhan to break Chinese laws and post reports on the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan in February and the Hongkong protests on the social media. He wrote: "Her behaviour is in conflict with China's social governance system and she has violated Chinese laws. External forces confused her by preaching poisoned whispers, making her paranoid to believe that it is just and redemptive to fight against the Chinese system. She has been made a tool by Western forces and become a tragedy.  The West also hopes to split the Chinese public opinion by hyping up Zhang's story and thus jeopardize China's unity."