Apology given for ‘harming’ a PLA founder

An online cartoon-making company publicly apologized to the family of Ye Ting, a former military leader, for making a video clip that harmed Ye’s reputation. The compensation it was ordered to pay will be donated to a foundation.

In the apology, which was published in Monday’s China Youth Daily, Xi’an Momo Information Technology said: “We feel deeply sorry and remorseful for making the video which not only harmed Ye Ting’s reputation … but also brought mental pain to family members of Ye and hurt the public’s national and historical feelings.”

The company also promised to respect history in the future.

Ye, who was born in Guangdong province in 1896 and died in 1946, was one of the founders of the People’s Liberation Army and the first commander of the New Fourth Army, one of the main communist forces during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45).

In May, the cartoon company uploaded a 1-minute video clip on the internet, in which a poem written by Ye in a Kuomintang prison was parodied. The original word “freedom” in his poem was changed to “painless abortion” in the clip, making it similar to a medical advertisement. It infuriated the public as it spread between May 8 and 16.

Ye’s family members and close relatives, including his son, Ye Zhengguang, and grandson, Ye Daying, sued the company in May. In September, Yanta District People’s Court in Xi’an, Shaanxi province, ordered the company to pay 100,000 yuan ($14,500) to Ye’s family and make a public apology via news media.

After the apology was published on Monday, Ye Daying, Ye’s grandson, said on Sina Weibo in the name of Ye’s descendants that they would donate the compensation and raise another 100,000 yuan for a public welfare foundation in Hainan province.

The money will be used to promote the spirit of China’s heroes and martyrs and for protecting their rights, he said.

The case attracted wide public attention after the Law of Protection of Heroes and Martyrs was approved on May 1.

Under the new law, activities that defame heroes and martyrs or distort and diminish their deeds are prohibited. Television, radio, videos, films, publishers and the internet must not violate their right to a good name, image, reputation or honor.