The Truth About Fake News

By Lan Xinzhen

While fake news about China is nothing new， in the past year， several false allegations by Western media or organizations made news in China. The claims were not only exposed by traditional media， but also poked fun at on social media platforms by netizens who found such “news” unfounded， befuddling and laughable.

One case of misreporting was on the 39 migrants found dead in a refrigerated trailer in an industrial park in Grays， Essex in the UK on October 23， 2019. The next day， the Internet was inundated with news that read， “The 39 Chinese migrants who were found dead in the back of a lorry had traveled 5，000 miles and could have been locked in the freezing trailer for days.” They posed the question： “How did 39 Chinese nationals find themselves inside a lorry in Essex？” It later turned out that these migrants who suffered such a tragic end were Vietnamese rather than Chinese.

Another unfounded claim was recently debunked by Ajit Singh， a Canadian-based writer and lawyer， and Max Blumenthal， an author and editor of The Grayzone， which is an independent news website dedicated to original investigative journalism.

On December 21， 2019， they published a coauthored article on the website， revealing that the claim that China has detained millions of Uygur Muslims in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China is based largely on two “highly dubious” studies.

The claim served as the foundation for the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the so-called Uygur Human Rights Policy Act on December 3， 2019， calling for sanctions against China.

A closer look at these studies reveals “the U.S. Government backing， absurdly shoddy methodologies， and a rapture-ready evangelical researcher named Adrian Zenz，” they wrote.

The fi rst study， conducted by the U.S. Governmentbacked Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders， extrapolated the number of “detained” Uygurs based on an absurdly small sample of research subjects： “a grand total of eight people，” according to Singh and Blumenthal.

They also found that the second study was based on a single report by Istiqlal TV， a Uygur exile media organization based in Turkey. The study was authored by Adrian Zenz， a far-right fundamentalist Christian who believes he is “l(fā)ed by God” on a “mission” against China.

“As Washington ratchets up pressure on China， Zenz has been lifted out of obscurity and transformed almost overnight into a go-to pundit on Xinjiang，” they wrote. Zenz has testifi ed before the U.S. Congress and provided political commentary for several media outlets.