Coronavirus fakes spread in China
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Chinese state media quoted a Swiss biologist named Wilson Edwards, who doesn’t exist.
The controversy surrounding the origin of the coronavirus does not stop, and China is trying in every possible way to fight off accusations that it is he who is to blame for the global pandemic.
Sometimes even fake Facebook accounts are used, messages of which are massively quoted by the Chinese media.
So it happened with a Swiss biologist named Wilson Edwards, who became a star in the Chinese press, and then it turned out that such a person does not exist at all.
Necessary messages
On Facebook, a researcher from Bern allegedly expressed his displeasure with the theory that a laboratory in Wuhan is responsible for the coronavirus pandemic. As a biologist, he is concerned about how the origins of the coronavirus have become politicized in recent months, he wrote under the name of Wilson Edwards. “Research fellows have complained that they have been subjected to tremendous pressure and even intimidation from the United States and some media outlets,” he said.
The Chinese state media, of course, took up Edwards’ report, as it confirmed what the Chinese Foreign Ministry has been repeating for several weeks now: the theory of the virus leaking from the Wuhan laboratory is slander by the United States and has no scientific evidence.
But such a scientist does not exist. The Swiss Embassy in Beijing posted a wanted announcement on Twitter and its Chinese counterpart Weibo: “Wilson Edwards, if you really exist, we’d love to meet you!” Not a single resident of Switzerland is registered under this name, and not a single scientific work has been published on behalf of such a researcher, the embassy writes. It called on the Chinese media to remove the posts and publish the corrections.
There is indeed an account on Facebook under that name with a corresponding post – it is the only one. The page was created on July 24, Wilson Edwards has three friends, he allegedly grew up in Bern. Everything suggests that the profile is fake.
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EPA
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Chinese network
Apparently, there is a network of fake profiles on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube that are directing discussions in the direction Beijing needs, according to a new study by the British non-governmental organization Center for Information Resilience.
More than 350 profiles studied covered COVID-19, human rights violations in Xinjiang, or racism in order to sow discord, counter criticism of China and discredit Western governments, the organization writes. The content of the messages is very similar to the statements of Chinese government officials and state media.
The Global Times followed the call from the Swiss embassy and removed the article from its website. However, the China Daily article with misinformation remained.
This spring, the fictional French journalist has already made headlines on the Chinese international television station CGTN. Under the name Lauren Beaumont, the woman denounced the “tyranny of fake news” about human rights abuses in Xinjiang. The French newspaper Le Monde found out that a person named Lauren Beaumont does not exist.
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