China responds

Re: Chinese prison life hellish: Canadian, Jan. 8

The story said the Canadian had roused the attention of tens of millions of Chinese people by making “racially charged” comments and a “very insensitive” remark about the “Nanjing Massacre” in a WeChat group made up of mostly expatriates, and that it made national news in China. In fact, WeChat is neither Weibo nor Facebook. His remarks in his WeChat group could not attract the attention of so many Chinese people. This is simply illogical.

The story also alleged that the Canadian was detained in China for three weeks. But according to “Public Security Administration Punishment Law of the People’s Republic of China,” a person who incites ethnic hatred or ethnic discrimination, or publishes contents about ethnic discrimination or humiliation in publications or networks, should be detained for over 10 days but less than 15 days. Therefore, there is no penalty for three weeks of detention.

As for the situation the Canadian described in Chinese prison, it is more like the plots in Victor Hugo’s novel Les Misérables. The simple facts mentioned above show that this was most probably a fabricated story. Yang Yundong, spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in Canada