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Former CCTV host says China should apologise to world for coronavirus ‘mess’
- Qiu Menghuang’s comment adds to row over Beijing’s expulsion of Wall Street Journal reporters
- He deleted all posts from his social media account after many users left critical messages
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A former host at state broadcaster CCTV has added fuel to the Wall Street Journal expulsion row by suggesting China should say sorry to the world “for the mess” caused by the coronavirus epidemic.
Qiu Menghuang posted the suggestion to Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, on February 20, prompting many users to leave messages criticising him before Qiu scrubbed all posts from his account.
“Even though the stereotype of ‘sick man of Asia’ has been shattered for over a century, can we be more gentle and apologetic in our tone, humbly put on some face masks and give a bow to the world and say ‘sorry for the mess’?” he wrote in the now-deleted post.
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That was a reference to the headline of an opinion piece about the coronavirus outbreak, “China is the real sick man of Asia”, published by The Wall Street Journal on February 3, which the Chinese foreign ministry said was racist.
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On February 19, China expelled three Wall Street Journal reporters, claiming the decision was retaliation for the opinion piece.
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