American propagandists are spreading the fake news that China threatened to shoot down Nancy Pelosi’s plane in case she tried to visit Taiwan. This is a classic case of lying masked as reporting. So what’s the story?
It happened that Hu Xijin, a Chinese columnist for the Chinese news daily Global Times, tweeted his personal opinion that if American jets escort Pelosi’s plane to enter Taiwan, China should warn them; and if they continue to advance, China should shoot them down. The New York Post linked to Xijin’s tweet and included its text.
The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Wire, and a number of other – mainly conservative – news outlets pounced on the tweet and ran headlines that China has threatened to shoot down Pelosi’s plane in case of a Taiwan visit. They called Hu Xijin a Chinese government propagandist because according to them Global Times is controlled by the Chinese state.
However, an alleged 2nd-hand link with the Chinese government, even if verified, in no way means that China has issued the threat to shoot down Pelosi’s plane. Xijin didn’t even write a column in Global Times to suggest shooting down Pelosi’s plane. He simply tweeted a hypothetical in his personal capacity. But the way the media in America, and particularly popular conservative sources, put their twist on the tweet to equate Xijin with China has taken the credibility of America’s propaganda machinery to new lows.
By the standards of these American propagandists, if Tucker Carlson said something on Twitter during Trump’s government would mean Trump administration is saying it through Tucker’s mouth; and Whoopi Goldberg saying something on her stupid show would represent Biden administration’s official policy. And to think of any of these as valid will be ridiculous because of the lack of truth in these connections.
As a reminder, it was actually Republican Lindsey Graham who called for the assassination for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Now that is a government official but even he spoke it in his personal capacity not as a government representative, later walking back his comment after the backlash.
It is interesting to see that leftist news outlet Newsweek, an otherwise propaganda factory, showed some honesty on this news and pointed it that Chinese government has not issued such a threat.
Verdict: The story that China has threatened to shoot down Pelosi’s plane in case of a Taiwan visit is a textbook example of fake news and is cheesy American political propaganda. The fact that it is coming from mainly conservative news sources tells us how dark the journalism scene is on either side of the political divide.
Skepticle Scale: 10/10
Ernie's Take 