Taiwan’s justice ministry has confirmed that there have been Chinese web users posing as Taiwanese people and apologizing to the WHO head on Taiwan’s behalf.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has alleged that Taiwan was involved in personal attacks against him online.
The justice ministry found that after Chinese-language media reported Tedros’ accusations Thursday, social media posts began appearing that apologized in Taiwan’s name. An investigation traced the accounts posting the messages to China. The ministry says these false apologies constitute a grave threat to Taiwan’s international reputation. It has called on web users not to spread the fake messages.
President Tsai Ing-wen and the foreign ministry have both issued strong protests against Tedros’ accusation, and the foreign ministry has demanded an apology to Taiwan.