The EU ambassador to China should not have permitted to have an opinion piece censored by the Chinese authorities published in the China Daily newspaper.

Nicolas Chapuis’s decision, taken under great time pressure, “was not the right one,” a European Commission spokesman said Friday. The French diplomat remains confident.

The newspaper, on the instructions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing, deleted the phrase that the coronavirus has spread from China to the rest of the world.

Those words were in the original document by the ambassadors of the EU and its Member States in China on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations.

A day earlier, a spokesman for the EU’s daily management had defended the placement of the censored document.

Because it was considered important to share other issues in the article such as human rights, sustainability, climate, multilateralism and cooperation with China with the Chinese people. This was criticized from many sides.

The EU foreign service speaks of a “regrettable” incident.