Opinion | Outrage after People's Daily's 'Dishonest Americans' column goes viral

The People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of China’s Communist Party, has baffled and shocked people in China by launching a  “Dishonest Americans" Series, aiming  to “provide a more objective picture of what the US and Americans are really like.”

“Most Chinese people think that Americans are honest, reliable, and righteous. But once you live in the country for a while, you may discover the descriptions above are a bit misleading, ” explained its editor.

It’s not clear why the bilingual column, entitled “Immoral and Dishonest Americans” in Chinese, is called “Dishonest Americans” - with “immoral” taken out, in English. 

With three articles published from March to May,  the series remained largely unnoticed until earlier this week, when a huge debate began online after several prominent Chinese media outlets reported the column.