‘Heartless’ China influencer says Gansu deadly quake was 800km away and ‘nothing to do with her’ faces ongoing criticism despite apology
- Online personality tries to argue she was unaware of details of tragedy before live-stream session
- She makes public apology and donation after fierce backlash
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An online influencer who mocked the devastating 6.2 magnitude earthquake that struck Gansu on December 18 is facing a wave of backlash, and her video has been viewed 8.55 million times and received over 5,100 comments.
The 20-year-old woman, Dong Shixuan, from Fujian province in southeast China, started a live-stream for her three million followers at about 1pm on November 19 in which she tried to explain why she was not donating money to relief efforts.
“What does this tragedy have to do with me?”
She further said: “The Gansu earthquake was 800 to 1,000km from where I live.”
The earthquake killed 134 people and left nearly 1,000 others injured, with 13 people still missing. It also caused immense property damage that will require significant effort and resources to rebuild.
After her remark, followers flooded her comments section with criticisms, but the woman kept asking: “What does the earthquake have to do with me?”
“I didn’t even know about the earthquake until I started the live-stream,” she said. Dong added: “I don’t have money, I don’t have money. If I had money, I would donate.”
Amid the backlash, Dong published an apology letter on December 21 and a receipt proving she donated 5,200 yuan (US$700) to the World Union Philanthropy Foundation for relief efforts, according to Toutiao News.
“I’m sorry for not paying attention to my words and behaviour as a public figure,” Dong wrote in the letter.
Kuaishou, the live-streaming platform that Dong used, said it had punished the woman for her commentary without elaborating on the specifics of the consequences, according to Jimu News.
The apology did not help ease the public anger.
“There is no way to forgive her,” wrote one commenter.
Another person wrote: “It’s terrifying when someone is heartless.”
Stories of public faux pas from influencers often trigger public outrage in China.
Earlier this month, popular Taiwanese singer Rainie Yang Cheng-lin stunned her audience at a concert in central China’s Henan province when she said people living there “love to cheat people”.
In another case, in September, the country’s top e-commerce beauty products guru, Li Jiaqi, widely known as the “Lipstick King”, had to make a tearful apology after he ridiculed people who could not afford to buy his products.
