Editor's note: Maitreya Bhakal is an Indian commentator who writes about China, India, the U.S. and global issues. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Western societies are free. The media in the West is free and independent. They speak truth to power, and they hold the powerful accountable, or so they would have us believe. In truth, it's largely the opposite.

In the West, especially the U.S., the media serves as a form of social control. U.S. leaders have perfected the art of keeping people on a tight leash. The U.S. population is kept under strict observation and surveillance, and almost all political activity is heralded into a highly restrictive "two-party" system – all the while making people believe that they are "free."

All opposition is strictly controlled. Any third party, or indeed, any alternative opinion that doesn't fit the standard allowable templates, is ruthlessly crushed. America's hounding of Assange alone has exposed how far the U.S. is willing to go to maintain control.

This is why it is often so easy for the U.S. establishment to simply switch public opinion 180 degrees, even with zero new evidence – as it did with the Wuhan lab-leak conspiracy theory. The same people who ridiculed the lab-leak hypothesis last year now take it seriously.

Public opinion in America – never exactly well informed – has followed suit, undergoing an almost complete reversal. A year ago, most Americans believed that the virus did not come from a lab. Today, most Americans believe exactly the opposite.

U.S. control over popular media is so complete and absolute that it can change public opinion on and off like a switch. This also explains why, despite its criminal negligence in handling the COVID-19 pandemic, it faced few threats to its rule from such a subdued population.

Ever since China started "rising" 40 years ago and provided an alternative, socialist, people-led mode of development to the world – in stark contrast to the profit-hungry, corrupt and tyrannical Western approach – the U.S. has unleashed a massive propaganda campaign against it. China has been accused of committing every crime under the sun, including some of the worst crimes known to humanity, including that of "genocide."

All with zero evidence, of course. In general, one would imagine that the worse the crime, the more evidence needed to prove it. Yet, Western media believes in the opposite: The more severe the accusation, the weaker the evidence.

Consider the whole "Uygur genocide" propaganda narrative. It is based on such flimsy data that few believe it. Even social media sleuths often tear it apart. Yet, the Western media continues on their propaganda campaign, as if the question was settled and beyond doubt.

Most propaganda angles about China in the Western press are based on lies. The so-called debt-trap diplomacy propounded by U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken himself is a long-discredited conspiracy theory.

A new propaganda story they're pushing these days is that China is rapidly expanding its military. Yes, the military superpower with 800 military bases in 70 countries and a publicly revealed military budget 2.5 times that of China's – is concerned that China's military expansion is a threat to world peace.

So what explains these relentless lies and propaganda? What explains the constant hammering of anti-China opinions down people's throats? Three key reasons could help explain and contextualize this phenomenon.

One is that it reflects Western values: racism, hatred, violence and a disdain for other cultures and peoples. This is manifested through Western propaganda in the form of Sinophobic "reporting" and racist and orientalist tropes.

Another is to keep local populations subservient and distracted from domestic problems. All difficulties at home can then be blamed on an imaginary enemy. Consent can then be manufactured for aggression against said enemy. Thus, in the U.S., everything from climate change to election losses is decried as a foreign plot.

When COVID-19 hit, the Western world's Pavlovian response was to blame it on China. Just like Nazi Germany's problems were once blamed on Jews and Socialists, America's problems are today blamed on China or Russia.

This saves governments the trouble of solving those problems themselves. The result is around 630,000 COVID deaths – and counting – in the richest country in the world and the planet's sole superpower.

Finally, a key reason for the Sinophobic media propaganda is that China represents an alternative power structure and a more humane model of prosperity. The U.S. is as obsessed with control over the globe and its economy as it is over its own people.

For any rising nation, development is treated as a privilege, not a right. And this right is contingent upon subservience to the West – both economically and ideologically. Since China is neither, it must suffer.

During the Cold war, the Western world could boast many propaganda victories. Yet, in today's internet age, such blatant propaganda is far less effective. It seems that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has gotten rather complacent; despite its best efforts, its propaganda is mostly effective only in the West.

Videos of Uygurs happily going about their normal lives are enough to make people question whether "genocide" is indeed being committed against them. 

As with any "empire," America risks being destroyed by its own hubris.

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