Switzerland asks Chinese media to remove Covid-19 quotes from ‘fake’ citizen
- Several Chinese websites featured a quote by a Swiss biologist who did not appear to exist
- The supposed scientist, Wilson Edwards, was quoted saying he had faced US pressure for backing a Covid-19 origins report by China and the WHO
The press and social media comments attributed to a biologist identified as Wilson Edwards took aim at alleged US pressure on researchers amid the pandemic.
The Swiss embassy in Beijing highlighted its suspicions about the quoted scientist on Tuesday with a Twitter post: “Looking for Wilson Edwards, alleged [Swiss] biologist, cited in press and social media in China over the last several days.”
“If you exist, we would like to meet you!” the embassy tweeted.
A message inserted with the post, written in English and Chinese, said no Swiss citizen named Wilson Edwards appeared on registries or academic articles from the biology field. It said the Facebook account where comments attributed to Wilson were published was opened on July 24.
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The embassy said that while it appreciated Switzerland receiving attention, it “must unfortunately inform the Chinese public that this news is false”.