Fake news driving wedge between Chinese and foreigners, top Beijing adviser says in call for ban

Rampant sharing of fake information has had ‘serious impact’ on interests of China and its society, CPPCC Standing Committee member says

Jia Qingguo seeks laws banning the sharing of such misleading information

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Fake information in China is fuelling hostility against foreigners, a top Chinese adviser says .Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 7:00am, 7 Mar 2022

The rampant spread of fake information in China is fuelling hostility against foreigners and polarising public opinion, according to a top Chinese political adviser and former academic.

Such information had further intensified confrontation between China and other countries, said Jia Qingguo, former dean of the School of International Studies at Peking University, as he called for laws against their dissemination.

“For example, there are often people on the internet who, for some reason, present a foreigner’s vicious remarks against China as the opinion of representing everyone in that country, thereby inciting the public’s discontent and hostility towards that country and its people,” he said.

Jia, an expert on US affairs, is a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the country’s top political advisory body, which began its annual session in Beijing on Friday.

Jia Qingguo says online misinformation can spark public hostility towards entire nations. Photo: Weibo

Fake information confused the public about right and wrong, amplified extreme voices and fuelled polarisation, he told TheCover, a news outlet affiliated to the state-owned Sichuan Daily.

When society was divided by such misleading information, consensus building on objective facts became more difficult, Jia noted in the interview published on Saturday.