Updated April 11th, 2020 at 12:22 IST
Taiwan blames trolls from China for issuing fake apology to WHO chief
After WHO chief accused Taiwan of “racial slurs” against him, people from China pretending to be Taiwanese are now apparently issuing 'fake apologies'.
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After WHO chief accused Taiwan of “racial slurs” against him, trolls from China pretending to be Taiwanese are apparently issuing a 'fake apology' to the United Nations health agency. According to Taiwanese media, the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau of Taiwan retaliated on WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’ claims of “personal attacks” by citing their findings of the inquiry. At a media briefing on April 10, a Taiwanese official said that their investigation has indicated that accounts from China are orchestrating the row between WHO and Taiwan.
While Taiwan had earlier accused the United Nations health agency of neglecting its suggestions in the preliminary stage of COVID-19 outbreak, the WHO head had recently responded. Not only did Ghebreyesus mentioned an ‘online campaign’ against him over the course of the last three months, but also said that he received death threats that had originated from Taiwan. However, within few hours of WHO chief’s remarks, Twitter accounts had begun posting apologies for Ghebreyesus. However, now Taiwan claims that they were from accounts originating from China and people attempted to impersonate Taiwanese.
Read - COVID-19: China Slams Trump's Attack On WHO; Reminds 'One-China' Policy On Taiwan Feud
Read - WHO Denies Ignoring Taiwan Early Virus Warning
Chinese social media amplified the reach of posts
According to media reports, the Cyber Security Office head in Taiwan, Chang Yu-jen said that since the posts with apologies shared by Twitter users from the mainland were later shared on the Chinese social media, they ‘amplified’ their reach. Taiwanese authorities even traced back to first such messages of apologies for WHO chief to two usernames, @TMGNews_CN and @RFXY_China. According to the bureau, both these accounts have the description in Chinese language and even suspect them to be a media outlet along with a radio station in Xuzhou. The bureau official also said that apologies were posted in Chinese except one also had an English-language translation.
我是台灣人,我為台灣人這樣惡毒攻擊譚德塞而感到無比羞恥,我代表台灣人向譚德塞道歉,乞求他的原諒。
— 青蛙王子呱呱呱 (@WarmakerUSA) April 9, 2020
be a Taiwanese, I feel extremely ashamed that we attacked Tandse in such a malicious way. I apologize to Tedros on behalf of the Taiwanese and beg for his forgiveness #COVIDー19 pic.twitter.com/q3CIFn1lmn
After these findings, the Chinese social media users even issued multiple posts of rallying including, “remember to use the format” and “it is fun to play this game” in a bid to encourage others to personify themselves as Taiwanese and join the “fake apology” campaign. Chang has supposedly mentioned other evidence that has indicated towards China and claimed that the bureau combed through at least three months of such posts on Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms. However, Chang denied having found any racist or personal attacks against the WHO chief.
Read - China Targets Taiwan Officials For 'venomously' Attacking WHO Chief
Read - US Criticizes WHO For Ignoring Taiwan Virus Warnings
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Published April 11th, 2020 at 12:22 IST
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