2019年5月7日星期二

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

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