China Daily newspaper criticised over claim Hong Kong protesters are planning 9/11 terror attack
- State-run newspaper’s Hong Kong edition made claim in Facebook post illustrated with photograph of attack on New York in 2001
- English language outlet said ‘anti-government’ fanatics had been threatening to kill people if their demands were not met
A state-run Chinese newspaper faced extensive criticisms after it claimed in a Facebook post that Hong Kong protesters were planning mass terrorist attacks on September 11.
China Daily’s Hong Kong edition said “anti-government fanatics” were planning the attacks, illustrating the post with a photograph of the al-Qaeda attack on the World Trade Centre in New York.
When asked if the claim was factually accurate and whether it was ethical to publish it, the state-run outlet sent a screenshot – which it said came from a channel on the encrypted messaging app Telegram – in which a post said protesters should start killing people if their demands were not met.
The newspaper declined to answer further questions about the paper’s editorial process or why it had conflated the Hong Kong protests with the worst terrorist attack on American soil.
The incendiary post drew over 300 comments, with some criticising the newspaper for using the September 11 attack picture and others accusing it of spreading “fake news”.