Chinese official media recently published a suspected fictionalized article by an independent French journalist denouncing allegations against China’s Xinjiang policy. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying claimed yesterday that the journalist was really there, adding that speaking “fairly” for China in Europe and the United States would be “malicious attacks.
According to a report by the Central News Agency, an independent French journalist with the byline Laurène Beaumond published the article “My Xinjiang: Stop the Fake News Tyranny” on the website of China’s official media, China Global Television Network (CGTN), on March 28. The article is in line with the views of the Chinese official media, and dispels the accusations of ethnic cleansing and persecution of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang based on what he has seen and heard. But Le Monde recently checked with the database of the French Professional Press Council, which issues press cards, and found no information on the journalist, who “has worked for several newspapers in Paris. FranceInfo and other media reported that Bo Meng’s Twitter account was created in March this year, and that the mug shot was also from a web gallery.
According to a transcript from the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s official website, Hua Chunying said at a regular press conference yesterday that she had checked with CGTN about Bohmeng’s identity and that “the French national is an independent writer who has lived in China for many years and has visited Xinjiang many times. Hua added that Pomang’s article recorded what she saw and heard in Xinjiang and the facts, and that “the views are objective and fair.
However, Hua said she was not at liberty to disclose the details of Bo’s article because “in some European and American countries, anyone who says something fair about China will be maligned,” the report said. Hua added that “individual Western countries and the media have a habit of thinking that as long as the Western journalists will not say good things about China, if the foreign journalist reports on China is different from many Western media reports, he must not be a Western journalist, and may even be China for false propaganda.” Hua Chunying concluded by saying, “This ‘haphazardly slapping labels and sticks around’ thinking is very unhealthy.”
The message did not mention how people in Europe and the United States who spoke out for China said they were maligned.
Recent Comments