Starting from a Distorted News Story from Mainland China

Photo Caption: The first session of the 14th National People's Congress will open on March 5, 2023, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

[People News] An incident that happened more than half a month ago is still worth revisiting. A netizen inspired the discussion when he summarised a widely shared post that began with the words, “Kindness and courage know no borders.” The post described the following: a disabled man from Shaanxi, who had recently undergone surgery on his left hand, climbed down a slippery cliff with his bare hands and, several times on the verge of exhaustion, gripped the hair of a drowning woman between his teeth to drag her back to shore.

The netizen’s writing skill made it immediately clear what was wrong with this supposed act of “kindness and courage.” Following a well-known trick many Chinese use to test truth from falsehood, the author deleted the words “from Shaanxi, China” and pasted the rest into one of today’s most widely used international AI search tools. The result: “From the perspective of physical reality and human limits, such a scenario is almost impossible, unless some details were exaggerated or omitted. A more reasonable explanation is that the story was embellished during transmission.”

When asked to locate the source, the AI pointed to a single news report circulated by multiple Chinese-language media outlets. According to those reports, the event occurred on the afternoon of September 16 at Jogasaki Coast in Ito City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. A 54-year-old Chinese tourist—who had undergone surgery on his left hand, right shoulder, and clavicle, and had a history of a broken left leg—jumped from a 30-meter cliff into the sea to rescue a drowning Japanese woman. The story claimed that he “bit the girl’s hair and clung to the rocks to drag her to shore.” This act, which defies human limits, was even highlighted in the headlines.

Even after re-evaluating, the AI concluded: “Based on available public information, the core of the story can be verified (rescue attempt, location, names, etc.), but there is no evidence from authoritative Japanese media, police reports, official rescue statements, or complete video footage to fully confirm all details.”

Something of this scale could not possibly escape Japanese attention. Was it deliberately unreported? In a democratic country like Japan, where politics is contested by multiple parties, the media of different factions would surely seize on such a story to advance their causes or attack rivals. Even if every party somehow remained silent about a Chinese saving a Japanese, the Japanese Communist Party would hardly miss the chance to denounce other parties for their lack of conscience.

But there was nothing—no coverage at all. The only explanation is that the story was fabricated beyond plausibility. As the AI pointed out, there are two “near impossibilities”: first, climbing down a wet cliff with a recently operated disabled hand; second, biting a woman’s hair tightly enough to drag a 50–60 kilogram adult ashore. Both defy common sense.

For many Chinese, such “near impossible” hero figures feel familiar. Wikipedia’s entry on Qiu Shaoyun claims he endured being burned alive without moving until death. AI analysis of this story produced the same verdict: human skin reacts instantly to flames with intense pain reflexes and muscle contractions, while smoke inhalation triggers involuntary coughing and struggling—so remaining motionless under such conditions is “virtually impossible.”

Decades have passed, yet such “impossible heroes” have not been corrected, only pushed to extremes. Whether it was claims of “carrying 200 jin of wheat over ten li without shifting shoulders,” or that “if you shift shoulders, the wheat will fall and be wasted”—all of which physicists, historians, and even firsthand witnesses have debunked—if the story involves the CCP’s “great, glorious, correct” leaders, it becomes untouchable, beyond even AI’s criticism.

Why does the CCP still cling to such crude “god-making” propaganda today? Simply because it can never become divine. Lacking genuine heroes, it manufactures fakes. Just as a wolf can never truly look kind, it must disguise itself as a grandmother.

Why, then, did the CCP choose to invent a story of a disabled Chinese man saving a Japanese woman now? Clearly, because it was stung by recent events in South Korea and Japan. In South Korea, a young coast guard officer sacrificed his life to save a Chinese elder at sea. In a society where insults like “old and useless” still ring loudly, South Koreans saw a 34-year-old man, fully aware of the danger, selflessly give his life jacket to a dying 70-year-old Chinese man. His great love and sacrifice shocked and deeply moved many.

Inside the Great Firewall, netizens cheered, “Kindness knows no borders.” To the CCP, this is even more terrifying than “Down with the Communist Party,” because what it fears most is the resonance of human goodness across nations.

For years, the CCP has vilified South Korea. Yet here, a young public servant—supposed to be brash and nationalistic—returned evil with good, sacrificing himself for an elderly Chinese who had likely endured bullying and abuse back home. “Respect the old as you would your own elders” comes from Confucius and Mencius. Yet in today’s China, people still hesitate over whether to help an elderly person who has fallen, fearing lawsuits and punishments if accused.

Scenes of young people fighting elderly passengers for subway seats abound; children suing their parents for minor gains are not rare. Some wealthier children prefer to hire caretakers rather than personally visit their ageing parents. The erosion of respect means elders lose moral authority and cannot extend compassion to the young. A popular meme inside China asks: “Is it that bad people grew old, or that the elderly became bad?”

Such a meme would not resonate in South Korea. They never had “Smash the Four Olds” or campaigns against Confucius. They never branded Confucianism as “feudal dross.” South Koreans, with strong Confucian traditions, understand hierarchy and respect between generations. It is common to see young people helping the elderly on the streets with genuine respect. Even with special subway seats reserved for seniors, young people often still yield regular seats. In South Korea, “respect the elderly and cherish the young” is not a slogan but an everyday reality.

So when a young coast guard stripped off his only life jacket for an elder, it was the instinctive act of someone raised in Confucian culture. Courage to sacrifice for righteousness is ingrained in the bone; no calculation is needed.

Mention of a Chinese saving Japanese might remind some of Hu Youping, the Chinese woman who saved several Japanese children from a knife-wielding Chinese attacker. This shows that benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trust are still part of Chinese humanity and cannot be completely erased. But it also shows that violence comes from those incited by the CCP propaganda to hate Japan. After such atrocities, the CCP shielded perpetrators and hid the truth, claiming to represent the Chinese people.

The CCP does not even believe another Hu Youping will appear. That is why it concocts “impossible” hero stories. It knows its own evil deeds, yet still claims to be “great, glorious, and correct.” What else can that be called but shameless hypocrisy?

(First published by People News)