China is rewriting the facts about coronavirus to suit its own narrative

China has been here before. During the Sars crisis in 2002 and 2003 it hid cases, censored doctors and withheld information from the world for four months. Nearly 800 people died. Fast forward to 2020. The successor to Sars appeared, and has so far caused 600,000 deaths and more than 15 million infections worldwide. The Chinese government says it has been “open, transparent and responsible” throughout; its critics say not open, transparent or…