The New York Times reported on April 24, 2020 that the EU had caved to Chinese pressure to pull, or at least water down, a report on Beijing’s disinformation efforts during the COVID-19 crisis in Europe. The Financial Times reported a few days later that “China complained to the EU at least three times and warned bilateral relations would be hit should the bloc publicly accuse it of spreading (…) propaganda.” According to the New York Times, mentions about “China’s ‘global disinformation’ campaign” were removed from the report, as were allusions to France’s displeasure with Chinese disinformation targeting French authorities in particular. Following the media exposure, the EU put out a report three days later that did call out Beijing, albeit in softer terms.