(Minghui.org) When Helen Dong called her sister-in-law in Wuhan a week ago, she was shocked to hear her cursing the U.S. military for bringing the coronavirus to Wuhan during the Military World Games last year.

“The U.S. hurt us so badly! See how miserable we are now!” the sister-in-law said. She went on to express deep gratitude to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for saving China and caring for its people. She bragged about the free vegetables she had just received, which was given out for the first time since Wuhan was locked down two months ago.

Having fled to the U.S. years ago to avoid religious persecution, Ms. Dong said she had experienced firsthand how the CCP persecutes and deceives its people, but she was still appalled by the effects of its brainwashing campaign and attempt to shift the blame for the coronavirus to other countries.

Ms. Dong tried to explain to her sister-in-law how the CCP had covered up information about the epidemic and underreported the death cases in Wuhan, but she wouldn’t listen and became irritated.

“Haven’t you seen how many people have been infected and died in the U.S. from the virus? Has the U.S. government done anything about it? The Chinese government treats us so well and really cares about our feelings!” Ms. Dong's sister-in-law shouted over the phone.

Ms. Dong said her sister-in-law isn’t the only one who thinks this way after believing the CCP’s propaganda. She had a few friends in the U.S. who had similar experiences when talking to their loved ones back in China. These friends' families, who live in Beijing and Jiangsu Province, blamed the U.S. for the virus and even refused to pick up when they called back.

“The whole world knows the coronavirus pandemic started in Wuhan. And it’s because of the Chinese communist regime’s cover-up in the first two months that the virus spread to the entire world. How can they now blame other countries for it?” Ms. Dong said.

“From the 2003 SARS outbreak to the ‘tofu (a Chinese expression of low-quality construction projects) elementary schools’ that collapsed in the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake, and from the melamine-laced baby formula to faulty vaccines, the Chinese government has never been transparent or investigated the incidents. Instead, they covered it up.”

While the lockdown in Wuhan was lifted on April 8, Ms. Dong worried that the CCP’s control over people’s minds is only getting tighter and tighter. She likens this control to an invisible fence that is still keeping people on lockdown.