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Laura Zhou

Chinese state media has accused US President Donald Trump of falsely attributing ocean pollution to China by sharing misleading images on social media, reflecting dim prospects for an improvement in ties between the two countries.
The Paper, a digital newspaper run by state-owned Shanghai United Media Group, said on the weekend that three photos posted by Trump online were either digitally altered or outdated – and none were taken in China.
The report, headlined “Fact Check: Trump Blames China for Pacific Ocean Pollution Using Doctored Images”, was shared on Chinese social media, including by state-owned People’s Daily, Global Times and Beijing Daily.
In his post on April 20, Trump accused China of dumping waste, describing it as “‘A Gift from China’ in the Pacific Ocean!”

But The Paper reported that two of the three pictures were taken a few years ago.
One of the pictures was taken by American nature photographer Ethan Daniels near Raja Ampat, an archipelago between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It was uploaded to free photography website iStock in 2017.
Daniels later confirmed with the South China Morning Post that he took the photo in 2014.
Another picture was taken by underwater photographer Caroline Power near Honduras and was first published also in 2017, the news site said.
Power also told the Post she did not know the photo was used by Trump and confirmed that it was taken in Honduras. “The source of that plastic pollution is predominantly the Motagua river located in Guatemala, though several rivers in Honduras do contribute,” she said in an email.
A third picture of rubbish floating offshore was “digitally composited” with an image from Associated Press and one from Agence France-Presse, the report said.
The two news agencies did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Chinese foreign ministry also did not reply.


Trump is known for making wild – sometimes false or misleading – statements on social media and in interviews. However, it is not common for state-run Chinese media to directly counter remarks by a foreign leader.
In an interview with Time magazine last week, Trump claimed that Chinese President Xi Jinping had called him but sidestepped questions when asked what when the two spoke or what the Chinese leader said.
“We’re meeting with China,” he said. “We’re doing fine with everybody.”
The comments appeared to relate to the US’ tariff war with China, which has rattled the global financial markets and threatened to disrupt world trade.
However, Beijing seems to be in no rush to have any active negotiations with the US.
“This is all fake news,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Thursday when asked about if the two sides were talking.
Zhu Junwei, director of the Centre for American Studies at Chinese think tank Grandview Institution, said there was a gap between China and the US when it came to setting up talks.
In China, for example, it is common for lower level officials to negotiate and lay the groundwork before a summit, but in the West, leaders usually take the initiative to push for dialogue, according to Zhu.
“I think communications at a lower level, for example, with the Chinese embassy staff, are under way, which, in China’s view, is not considered as negotiations,” she said.
In their last known phone call on January 17, Xi stressed to Trump that economic ties between the two powers should never be confrontational and that the two sides should respect each other. But about two weeks later, Trump announced a 10 per cent tariff on Chinese imports.
China was also left off the list when Trump announced a 90-day pause in the tariffs for trading partners to work out deals.
“China will be very wary,” Zhu said. “I think China will wait and see how the trade negotiations the US have with other countries go.”


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Chinese media calls out Trump over ‘false’ ocean pollution accusations

It is not common for state-run Chinese media to directly counter remarks by a foreign leader. Photo: Reuters

The Paper says the photos were not taken in China and one was digitally altered. Photo: Handout

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Illustration: Henry Wong

 Xi Jinping visited Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in early 2017. Photo: TNS

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The extent of the US tariffs and the real prospect of decoupling exceeded some expectations, in Beijing, some sources say. Photo: EPA-EFE

News

China

Diplomacy

Widely shared report tackles the US president head-on to counter claims that China dumped waste


Widely shared report tackles the US president head-on to counter claims that China dumped waste.


Donald Trump

Honduras

Environment