China's raging GM food debate leads to libel suit between fraud-buster, TV anchorman

Anti-fraud campaigner Fang Shimin on Monday moved to sue former veteran CCTV anchor Cui Yongyuan for damaging his reputation, aiming to end a months-long debate with him over genetically-modified food.

Fang, better known by his pen name, Fang Zhouzi, is a controversial US-educated biochemist famous for years of anti-fraud efforts in areas of life from academics to celebrity culture. His stance has led to some critics calling him “arrogant” and “self-righteous”.

In an indictment Fang published on his Tencent microblog, Fang accused Cui of libel and damaging his reputation. He pointed to over a dozen microblog postings Cui made since November alleging Fang was a fraud and implying he had embezzled cash from an anti-fraud fund.

The dispute began with the two’s fierce debates over consumption and production of GM food in China.

Over the past few months Fang had been aggressively promoting domestically-produced genetically-modified food through social networks, insisting to consumers that it is perfectly safe to consume.

His position attracted a horde of critics with many questioning his motivation; prominent among them was Cui.