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China

Former journalist detained over comments about Chinese soldiers in war movie

  • Luo Changping, 40, is being held in Sanya on the charge of ‘infringing the reputation and honour of national martyrs’
  • His social media post about troops who died during a battle in the Korean war – depicted in a new blockbuster – drew criticism online and from PLA Daily

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Luo Changping, who now runs a legal consultancy, was a well-known investigative reporter. Photo: Handout
William Zheng
A former journalist has been detained in the southern island province of Hainan for making “insulting comments” about Chinese soldiers portrayed in a blockbuster movie about the Korean war.

Police in the Jiyang district of Sanya identified the 40-year-old man as Luo Changping in a statement on Friday. It said Luo was being held on the charge of “infringing the reputation and honour of national martyrs” and the case was being investigated.

China introduced a law in 2018 making it a criminal offence to defame or deny the deeds and spirit of the country’s historic martyrs.

Luo was detained two days after he posted a comment on social media about a new Chinese film, The Battle at Lake Changjin, saying troops who died in freezing temperatures in a 1950 battle portrayed in the movie were “stupid”.

Those soldiers are hailed as national martyrs in China for their sacrifice in the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, and Luo’s post on Weibo drew criticism from thousands of social media users.

The People’s Liberation Army official newspaper, PLA Daily, also responded with a commentary the same day calling the soldiers an “indelible symbol” of China’s role in the Korean war.

“Heroes should never be ridiculed, stigmatised and insulted,” the commentary said. “We must not allow those who maliciously slander heroes to act unscrupulously and do whatever they want.”

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