Incorrect and biased reporting

Address: The New York Times Company, 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10018.

Date: April 30, 2019

Attention: 

Dean Baquet, Executive Editor
Joseph Kahn, Managing Editor

On April1, 2019 the article “Chinese Dissidents Feel Heat of Beijing’s Wrath Even in Canada” by Catherine Porter was published in New York Times. This is a harmful article that supports lies. The article tries to suppress, by innuendo and misleading inference, legitimate criticisms and the right to freely question.

From the article, we can see:

1. As a reporter, Ms. Porter lacks discernment because she is unable to recognize those who lie from those telling the truth. In this case, the truth would be obvious to any reporter who applies sincere and vigorous pursuit of the facts and to any reporter who is able to set aside personal bias and forgone conclusions.

2. She ignores evidence that is contrary to Sheng Xue’s allegations; therefore, her reporting is biased because she began writing this article having pre-decided the out come.

3. She doesn’t understand the strategies and influence of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). She has fallen into the very trap that she mistakenly thought she was exposing. In short, she has been had.

4. Ms. Porter made wrong connections between the CCP and those who questioned and criticized Sheng Xue. The result was harm done to these innocent people who raised legitimate questions. Their reputations, already injured by the lies of Sheng Xue, were further harmed by Ms. Porter’s biased reporting and twisting of the truth.

5. Ms. Porter failed to address the connection between Sheng Xue and the CCP which has caused turmoil in overseas Chinese democracy movement.

The signatories of this letter have all been interviewed by Ms. Porter for this article and all have had their statements twisted or ignored.

Finally, we would request that the New York Times clarify the facts of this issue and continue its longstanding reputation for excellence in unbiased reporting and respected investigative journalism.

Fei Liangyong
Zhu Rui
Liu Shaofu
Cheng Yiran

Let the truth come out and apologize to the public By Zhu Rui

Address: The New York Times Company, 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10018.

Date: April 16, 2019

ATTN: 

 Dean Baquet, executive editor;
Joseph Kahn, managing editor

On April 1, 2019, the New York Times published an article by Catherine Porter, the chief correspondent in Canada, entitled “Chinese Dissidents Feel Heat of Beijing’s Wrath. Even in Canada.” This article contains untrue statements, which need to be addressed.

1, Ms. Porter quoted: “Sheng Xue has been the victim of a relentless smear campaign that experts say has all the markings of a coordinated attack by the Chinese Communist Party” and “For more than six years, the Chinese-Canadian activist has been the victim of a relentless campaign of discreditation by blog, Listserv, e-book and social media, which experts say bears the markings of a coordinated attack by the Chinese Communist Party.” These quotes from the article insinuate that social media criticisms of Sheng Xue are connected to CCP influence. Ms. Porter has arrived at her conclusion but has provided no evidence or proof of the accuracy of her quotes in this article.

2, Further in the article Ms. Porter maligns my writings and me when she mentions me by name thus connecting me to the above quote.

She also quotes: “Ms. Zhu has penned many critical blog posts and assembled two e-books about Sheng Xue, accusing her of lying, personally profiting off refugee applicants and events, and being a fake witness to the Tiananmen Square massacre, among other things.” This implies that I am somehow connected to Chinese Communist Party, which is absolutely untrue. Such implications are blatantly false and result from biased and incomplete research. The real victims of the “smear campaign” are all the people who legitimately questioned and criticized Sheng Xue’s activities and received insults, threats, and attacks in return.

3, In the same article it was reported that: “Zhu Rui, a Chinese-Canadian author began questioning Sheng Xue back in 2010, after the two traveled together to Dharamsala, India, ” This is another example of untruths for the purpose of misleading. The true situation is that I went to Dharamsala to participate in my new book conference and arrived two weeks before Sheng Xue. And I “began questioning to Sheng Xue back in 2010” only after Sheng Xue sent me a personal attack email on Oct. 2, 2010.

4, Another untrue statement about me in the same article: “In 2011, Ms. Zhu said, someone hacked into her computer, stole an unpublished essay about Sheng Xue and sent it to a dissident group posing as her.” Actually, I have never told to anyone, including Ms. Porter such a story. The true situation is that someone stole my identity and published an altered version of my article from my blog. They deleted the preface.

5, Ms. Porter has quoted “A confidential report by Amnesty International Canada had just been leaked, detailing the troubling experiences of 17 local activists. The person most cited was Sheng Xue.” Her claim is undocumented – lacking proper referencing, dating, and context. It is so unprofessional that it cannot be researched for accuracy.

Also I would like to say that Catherine Porter personally interviewed me in April 19, 2018. I can only assume that this interview had a predetermined agenda. If I had been told in her email requesting an interview that it would be only about Sheng Xue I would have declined it. Since my interview with Ms. Porter I have been bombarded with many emails from Ms. Porter asking pointed questions and trying to get me to engage in confrontational debate about Sheng Xue being smeared by the CCP. I have no interest in her agenda and in an email dated July 18, 2018 I stated that I would have no further comment about Sheng Xue.

The New York Times is internationally renowned as a media source, so I hope you will take the necessary actions to correct the false impressions given by this article. Let the truth come out and apologize to the public.

Zhu Rui