Taiwanese Internet celebrity Chung Ming-hsuan (鍾明軒) yesterday said he had “cried the entire night” after learning that an attack against him was based on deliberate manipulation.
Chung made the remarks via a post on Facebook, citing a video released on Wednesday by Taiwanese rapper Mannam PYC (閩南狼), whose real name is Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源), saying that his collaborator, YouTuber Pa Chiung (八炯), or Wen Tzu-yu (溫子渝), had doctored footage to discredit him.
Chen and Wen had partnered since December last year to produce a series of videos exposing China’s “united front” tactics.
Photo: Screen grab from Chung’s Facebook page
Chen said Wen repeatedly urged him not to comment on the matter, adding that he withheld the unaltered footage to “protect him and his family.”
The rapper in Wednesday’s video said that one of the earlier videos he made with Wen featured Chung’s image during a segment in which Strait Herald assistant director Lin Jingdong (林靖東) outlined strategies used to influence young Taiwanese, including “incubating” them through Taiwan-related organizations and collaborating with small-scale influencers.
Chung attracted notoriety last year for posting a series of videos from a trip to China in which he repeatedly praised the infrastructure and described the country as “wonderful” and “safe.”
The trip went viral and drew criticism from Taiwanese online, who said he was echoing Chinese propaganda and mockingly labeled him “motherland beauty” (祖國美人).
Chung later said the backlash took a significant emotional and professional toll on him.
The Strait Herald is a newspaper based in the Chinese city of Xiamen.
Chen on Wednesday said that Lin does not know Chung and that Chung’s image was included in the video without any connection to him.
Chen said he had questioned whether the inclusion was appropriate, to which Wen allegedly replied: “I know how to influence opinions; this type of action requires one to be unscrupulous.”
Chen said he disagreed with Chung’s views, but also opposed failing to verify information and “sending people to the guillotines,” adding that it was at that point he began to question whether the video was truly about anti-communism, or if it was clickbait.
Wen at 3am on Thursday said that his YouTube series was intended to expose China’s efforts to spread its “united front” rhetoric, and was not a personal attack on any YouTuber mentioned in the video.
Chung said he had visited China to better understand the community, as both sides of the Taiwan Strait share linguistic, cultural and religious ties, adding that it was an exchange, not a pledge of loyalty to Beijing.
Chen released a separate video on YouTube on Sunday announcing that he was ending his collaboration with Wen, saying that Wen had become an extremist seeking to manipulate public opinion.
Chen said Lin had sought to emulate Nazi methods for inciting mass action during the recall campaigns, and proposed ahead of an April rally to introduce a Nazi-style salute, form a “stormtrooper unit” and scapegoat a group — as the Nazis did with “the Jews” — as part of a dramatic anti-communist display.
Lin apologized in a video on YouTube on Monday, saying the remarks were self-mocking comments made in a private conversation with friends.
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
Taiwan’s coffee community has launched a “one-person-one-e-mail” campaign, calling for people to send a protest-e-mail to the World Coffee Championships (WCC) urging it to redesignate Taiwanese competitors as from “Taiwan,” rather than “Chinese Taipei.” The call followed sudden action last week after the WCC changed all references to Taiwanese competitors from “Taiwan” to “Chinese Taipei,” including recent World Latte Art champion Bala (林紹興), who won the World Latte Art Championship in San Diego earlier this month. When Bala received the trophy, he was referred to as representing Taiwan, as well as in the announcement on the WCC’s Web site, until it
RSS