First there were fake buns. Then the revelation that the fake bun story was itself fake. The reaction among some was, amazingly, that the revelation itself was fake!
真的是假假真真，真真假假， 不知相信谁！
Fake buns: Chinese don't buy govt line
BEIJING - WHEN the Chinese government said scandalous TV footage of a Beijing vendor stuffing steamed buns with flavoured cardboard was a hoax, some quipped that even the news in China is fake.
But since the authorities detained reporter Zi Beijia and several others last week, many Chinese have said they believe the story.
Suspicion of the government's denial of the story, and arrests, highlights an underlying scepticism towards government propaganda.
'Anyone who uses his nose on this one would know that the report was definitely real,' said a posting by 'Rat Head' on the website www.tianya.cn.
The suspicion may also underscore a strong sense of the kind of thing that is possible in the underbelly of the Chinese economic miracle.
'Buns with cardboard in them have been around for many years already, how can this be fake?' one person posted on an electronic bulletin board on the popular Sohu.com website.
Some people have even put forward the theory that the government may have set the reporter up in the first place to bring him down as an example of why the public should not trust media reports on food safety.
(with thanks to ST/REUTERS)
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TV producer of 'fake bun' expose jailed
BEIJING - A PART-TIME television producer who faked a story about buns filled with cardboard was yesterday sentenced to one year in jail and fined 1,000 yuan (S$200), state media reported.
The court said the actions of Zi Beijia, 28, have 'severely damaged the image of the related industries and products', Legal Daily reported yesterday.
Zi's so-called expose on Beijing TV showing Beijing hawkers using pre-soaked cardboard to make fillings for mince-pork buns made headlines worldwide after it was aired on July 8.
It was later revealed that he had bought the cardboard himself and hired four migrant workers to act out the choreographed scene.
The Legal Daily said Zi told the court that he deeply regretted what he had done and would like to apologise to the TV audience and people working in the news media.
He said earlier that he was under pressure to deliver, to make a name for himself, as well as to earn extra cash. Reporters are paid 5,000 yuan for special reports.
Coming as it did amid mounting reports of dangerous Chinese food and merchandise, the broadcast embarrassed the Chinese government, which had previously accused foreign media of sensational reporting on the health scares.
(from ST,13 Aug 07)
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