The fight over the document is part of a broad, global battle over the coronavirus narrative. And it comes at a time when the European Union hopes to win trade concessions from Beijing and restore a rich relationship once the pandemic has passed.

Chinese officials initially tried to silence doctors and play down the seriousness of the coronavirus outbreak in the city of Wuhan late last year. Eager to have the world forget that chapter, China has also tried to focus world attention on the contributions of its scientists and its worldwide donations of medical supplies.

The Trump administration has consistently blamed China for responding slowly when the virus emerged late last year and for spreading false information about the pandemic.

Even after the Trump administration reached a brief truce with the Chinese government to stop trading public barbs about the crisis, both sides have resumed their finger-pointing. President Trump said last week that his government was trying to figure out whether the virus came from a Chinese lab, while China has accused the American government of trying to distract the public from its own mistakes.

Against that backdrop, the European Union was expected to issue its report. Early Tuesday morning, Politico quoted from the document in its morning newsletter and said that the paper was expected to be published that day.

But Chinese officials quickly contacted the European Union’s representatives in Beijing to try to kill the report, according to two diplomats with knowledge of the exchange and emails recounting the calls.

The European Union, like the United States, has struggled to find a coherent approach toward combating disinformation. A task force of analysts regularly highlights foreign propaganda, but its work has been sanitized at times over political concerns.