The mild-mannered German scientist never anticipated becoming a Chinese propaganda star.
But Alexander Kekulé, director of the Institute for Biosecurity Research in Halle, Germany, has been all over the state-run media in China in recent days. News outlets have taken Kekulé’s research out of context to suggest that Italy, not China, is where the coronavirus pandemic began. Photos of him have appeared on Chinese news sites under headlines reading, "China is innocent!”
Kekulé, who has repeatedly said that he believes the virus first emerged in China, was startled.