"Content farms" promoting China's victory over the epidemic "backfires", authorities "fight falsehoods" to prevent Little Pinks from "being misled" and returning to China

(19 Mar) Recently, a string of articles on the "World Pandemic" appeared on the internet. The text in each article was the same except for the country's name. These "content farms" produced reports like "every country is losing control of the epidemic except China. Chinese people overseas should quickly return home and await further information." Our reporter learned from multiple sources that the creators behind these articles were - like Guo Hong - independent news site proprietors from Fuqing, Fujian. On Thursday (Mar 19), a group of people were accused and under investigation for "fabricating information to mislead many Chinese people to return home, endangering epidemic control efforts". Some analysts speculated, to prevent a "backfire", authorities promptly warned that reports on China's victory over the virus were triggering a wave of Chinese expats to return home, leading to a second outbreak. The authorities were making an example of the accused group to "fight falsehoods". (Reported by Huang Shanshan & Wen Haixin)

Fuqing's independent media proprietor Guo Hong admitted that after fabricating the "World Pandemic" web articles, many Little Pinks* from overseas took it at face value and made plans to return to China. Many sources informed our reporter that Xue Yumin, who is Guo Hong's husband and essentially runs for her site, and others are currently under investigation by the Fujian Public Security Bureau. They were charged with "fabricating information to mislead many Chinese people to return home, endangering epidemic control efforts".

Veterans of the media industry pointed that the reason the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) cracked down on these types of "foreign propaganda contractors" was because [pro-Chinese]"red independent media" created a disaster. "Red media" created all sorts of lies like how countries were losing control of the pandemic with the exception of China. Such rumours were spread widely. Many Little Pinks overseas believed them and sought to return home, which caused a surge in newly imported cases. The CCP brutally closed the country up for over a month in pursuit of some relief from the pandemic. A sudden influx of Little Pinks would likely cause the situation to deteriorate again.

Mr Liu, a media industry veteran, said that the media platforms involved had suspected ties to the authorities' "foreign propaganda" policy. He stated that many overseas Chinese were brainwashed by the CCP over many years. Even after emigrating, they continued to rely on official government information and independent media from China.

This led Guo Hong's home independent media content to be believed and circulated. Consequently, those who heeded the news returned to China to avoid infection and Beijing faces with the pressure of imported cases yet again. In the wake of the outbreak's second wave, these self-serving wumao+ foreign propaganda contractors were duly abandoned.

Mr Liu said, "They made rumours, causing overseas Chinese to return home and the epidemic to reign once more. In other words, they hindered efforts to fight the epidemic. In light of this, the most severe punishment at home is the death penalty. Strictly speaking, they may not be foreign propaganda; they may just be trying to get more views. But everyone still sees it as propaganda. In other words, there are certain risks to even fighting for the CCP."

Ms He, the parent of an international student and a medical professional, also confirmed that other parents of international students were clamouring to send their children back to China to avoid the pandemic. She believes that most commoners do not truly see the situation or understand the country's lack of medical resources. She feels that although China's situation is looking better, the danger is still there. Furthermore, whether re-opening the country would lead to another outbreak is a concern among industry insiders.

Ms He said, "Because most people are not within the medical system, they will not understand. Our conclusions are certainly not like that. Domestically, we understand why schools have not re-opened.The biggest issue is that although the virus' path of transmission is severed, we still could not find its source. If you re-open the country, there could be a second outbreak."

Ms He also commented that the CCP's implementation of compulsory quarantine fees for arrivals broke the hearts of the previously patriotic Chinese from overseas. Only when they experience such indifference and selfishness firsthand would they truly understand.

Ms He said, "Some independent media just want attention but a lot of them follow the government's rhetoric.Let's say there are paid internet commentators. Then, their biggest jobs are essentially government jobs. Honestly, you can see the people who come home and get quarantined are emotionally falling apart. When you come home, you realise that this type of quarantine is intolerable. But it (regret) is too late."

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus in Wuhan, China, the CCP has been vigorously advocating China's model of epidemic prevention. It claimed the model would lead the way for the world to do the same. Our reporter found business information of Guo Hong, her husband and her elder brother holding ownership of three companies: Fuqing "Eramagination", Fuqing "Everyday Quick Help", and Fuqing "Overseas City People Support". Altogether, they had more than seventy registered accounts taking advantage of the numerous foreign expats from Fuqing to spread foreign propaganda of Chinese political superiority to Chinese people around the world.An overwhelming majority of the content posted had the same template with only changes to the names of countries, facilitating circulation en masse.

Our reporter tried to phone Guo Hong's company, but the employee said Guo Hong and her husband were not there. Citing that she only spoke the local dialect, she did not comment on the matter. Fuqing's municipal Propaganda Department did not answer our repeated phone calls.

With the pandemic spreading around the world, the serious injuries to the US and Europe, in particular, have made the CCP more confident. But with the emergence of imported cases, Beijing regressed into panic and ruthlessly closed the country from its citizens overseas.

Editor's Note:

* Little Pinks are patriotic and zealous young Chinese people.

+ Wumao or 50 cent army is a colloquialism for internet commentators paid by the CCP to sway pro-Chinese opinion.

Source: RFA

https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/lie-03192020083325.html