Photo by Anadolu Agency via Getty Images For almost three years, China’s state broadcaster, CCTV, has bombarded viewers with images of the death and devastation the Covid-19 pandemic has wrought in Europe and the US. By contrast, China’s approach – like its political system – is presented as superior. But on 20 November, CCTV began showing its viewers something else: tens of thousands of maskless football fans happily cheering at the World Cup in Qatar. “Why can they live more freely than Chinese people?” asked an open letter published on the messaging platform WeChat on 22 November, which was widely...