Is journalist Vicky Xu preparing to return to China? — Radio Free Asia
Time:2024-05-21 18:45:06 Source:worldViews(143)
Chinese social media influencers have recently claimed that prominent Chinese-born Australian journalist Vicky Xu had posted a message saying she planned to return to China.
There is no evidence for this. The source did not provide evidence to support the claim, and Xu herself later confirmed to AFCL that she has no such plans.
Currently working as an analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, or ASPI, Xu has previously written for both the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, or ABC, and TheNew York Times.
A Chinese language netizen on X initially claimed on March 31 that the changing geopolitical relations between Sydney and Beijing had caused Xu to become an expendable asset and that she had posted a message expressing a strong desire to return to China. An illegible, blurred photo of the supposed message accompanied the post.
This claim was retweeted by a widely followed influencer on the popular Chinese social media site Weibo one day later, who additionally commented that Xu was a “traitor" who had been abandoned by Australian media.
Following the publication of an ASPI article in 2021 which exposed forced labor conditions in Xinjiang co-authored by Xu, the journalist was labeled “morally bankrupt” and "anti-China" by the Chinese state owned media outlet Global Timesand subjected to an influx of threatening messages and digital abuse, eventually forcing her to temporarily close several of her social media accounts.
AFCL found that neither Xu’s active X nor LinkedIn account has any mention of her supposed return to China, and received the following response from Xu herself about the rumor:
“I can confirm that I don’t have plans to go back to China. I think if I do go back I’ll most definitely be detained or imprisoned - so the only career I’ll be having is probably going to be prison labor or something like that, which wouldn’t be ideal.”
Neither a keyword search nor reverse image search on the photo attached to the original X post turned up any text from Xu supporting the netizens’ claims.
Translated & edited by Shen Ke. Additional editing by Malcolm Foster.
Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) was established to counter disinformation in today’s complex media environment. We publish fact-checks, media-watches and in-depth reports that aim to sharpen and deepen our readers’ understanding of current affairs and public issues. If you like our content, you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagramand X.
Previous:OpenAI pauses ChatGPT voice after Scarlett Johansson comparisons
Next:Rangers are undefeated at .500 to keep World Series champs from a losing record with Bochy
You may also like
- Britain's new bonkers EV: Callum Skye is an £80k electric buggy built in Warwickshire
- School camp bus breaks down, then catches fire while being towed
- Man who went missing while fishing on boat off Hawke's Bay coast named
- 'Shaky' times for scientific research with decade
- Cruise worker 'murders newborn son on board ship': Shocked co
- Woman and child escape Auckland house fire, gang at scene
- Local board opposes boundary change for Ōtara community
- 'Nobody should live like this'
- Verona confirms Serie A status for another year after beating Salernitana