Yuan Longping, a Chinese rice expert, died in Changsha, Hunan province, on May 22 at the age of 91. The Communist Party media CGTN reported Yuan’s death early that day, and publicly apologized for “careless reporting. Only a few hours later did the party media reconfirm Yuan’s death.
The Communist Party’s Xinhua News Agency reported at around 2 p.m. on the 22nd that it had learned from Xiangya Hospital of Central South University that Yuan had died at 13:07 that day in Changsha, Hunan Province.
Yuan, known as the “father of hybrid rice,” pioneered the research and development of hybrid rice in China and was the world’s first expert to successfully exploit the hybrid advantage of rice.
On the day of his death, Yuan’s death was reported twice in the Chinese Communist Party media. Before he died, the Communist Party’s CGTN first reported Yuan’s death.
But once the report was issued, it was declared false by other party media, for which CGTN issued an urgent apology: “It has been verified that academician Yuan Longping is currently receiving treatment in hospital, and we apologize for our previous careless reporting.”
It was only a few hours later that the Communist Party’s Xinhua News Agency issued an official report confirming Yuan’s death.
China’s food shortage has been a major concern in recent years. China’s crops have been severely damaged by the Communist Party’s viral epidemic and natural disasters such as floods and locusts, and some grain exporters such as Thailand have reduced their exports, resulting in shortages and price increases. However, Chinese Communist Party officials have repeatedly claimed that there is a good grain harvest and no shortage of food, which has been questioned by public opinion.
However, Yuan Longping said bluntly in an interview with CCTV before his death, “China is not enough grain to eat, and if other countries don’t sell it, there will be trouble.”
On July 8, 2019, “CCTV News” WeChat public number released a film of an interview with Yuan Longping. In the film, the CCTV reporter said, “Many people say that we do not lack food in China, there is enough food to eat.”
Yuan Longping replied, “No, China’s population is almost 1.4 billion, China’s food is not enough to eat, to import, to import part of it. Let me give you an example: soybeans are also not enough to eat, we Chinese people eat tofu, 70 to 80 million tons of imported soybeans every year.”
Yuan Longping also said, “Now the country still has money to buy food, if people a card you, do not sell food, it will be a problem, to starve. This is the problem, is a big problem.”
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