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Court orders apologies over war hero slurs
Print Edition
A COURT has ordered Internet celebrity Sun Jie and Hong Kong-based herbal drink maker Jiaduobao Group (JDB) to apologize to the family of deceased war hero Qiu Shaoyun for microblog posts that impugned his reputation and honor.
Beijing’s Daxing District People’s Court said Sun and JDB must issue public apologies on five consecutive days and pay compensation of 1 yuan (15 US cents) as requested to Qiu Shaohua, Qiu’s brother.
Qiu, who Chinese children are taught about at school, is a hero of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-1953).
Qiu, 26, was concealed in the grass on Hill 391 before a general attack, but an American incendiary bomb dropped nearby, and instead of betraying his position, and that of hundreds of his fellow Chinese soldiers, he burned to death.
Sun Jie mocked Qiu Shaoyun as “barbecued meat” in a Weibo post in 2013 to his over six million followers, saying that “consumers refused to pay for (Qiu’s meat) as it was only half roasted.
“They think the barbecued meat of Lai Ning is better,” he continued, referring to a 14-year-old Chinese middle school student who died trying to help put out a forest fire in 1988.
The post caused quite a stir before Sun deleted it the next day.
In April 2015, the JDB referenced the controversy by promising in its own Weibo post to give 100,000 cans of herbal tea to Sun should he open a barbecue shop.
The beverage group issued an apology soon after the post, but Qiu Shaohua filed a lawsuit in June 2015, demanding “the immediate cessation of the infringement, elimination of ill effects, apologies and mental compensation of 1 yuan.”
The court said Sun’s comments were intentionally derogatory and humiliating.
The spread of such comments online had “a negative influence, had harmed public sentiment and undermined public interests, and had caused Qiu’s family psychological damage,” it said.
The company’s comments, meanwhile, had “a relatively large negative influence, and caused Qiu’s family psychological damage,” it said.
It said JDB, as a household name in China, had failed to fulfill its obligation to exercise due discretion in its marketing campaigns and thus should bear legal responsibility.
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