A star presenter with China’s state television network has denied allegations that she spied for Taiwan, amid reports that she could be under investigation, state newspapers said yesterday.
The China Daily, quoting unnamed sources from China Central Television, said Fang Jing (方靜), the 38-year-old face of the network’s prime-time military program Defense Watch, had been “taken away for a possible spy probe.”
It said she also was “rumored” to have been seduced by a man from Taiwan eight years younger than her and to have received money from him.
But Fang denied the allegations and told the Southern Metropolis Daily she might seek legal redress over what she called “rumors.”
“I am not a spy,” she told the paper. “Someone will have to take legal responsibility for these rumors.”
Reporters were not immediately able to reach Fang for comment about the reports.
The China Daily quoted Zhang Zhaozhong (張召忠), a military expert at the National Defense University and a regular guest on her show, as saying she had not been jailed.
Fang quit the program on March 1, Zhang was quoted as saying.
A staff member with Defense Watch, who would not give his name, dismissed the reports as “rumors” when contacted by reporters.
He however confirmed Fang was not presently at the station.
“At the present time, she is not feeling well. I don’t know when she will return,” the man said, giving no other details.
Fang has been featured in some of CCTV’s largest live broadcasts including the network’s three-day coverage of the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997, the China Daily said.
She started working for CCTV in 1994 after graduating from China’s top broadcast journalism school and spent four months at Harvard University as a visiting scholar, the report said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique