On September 27, Xinhua.net, the official news agency of the Chinese regime, published a short apology on its homepage for fabricating an article dated Sept. 27, but accidentally posted two days before.
The fabricated article titled, “An Exciting Night on the Pacific: Shenzhou VII Orbits 30 Times,” was published even before the Shenzhou VII spacecraft was launched. The article was soon deleted from the website.
According to Xinhua’s apology, “Our website published a draft article due to operational mistakes by our editors, for which we apologize.”
The article, written by reporters, Wu Denfeng, Mei Shixiong and Wang Yushan, vividly described how the crew staff of the Yuanwang 1, a space tracking ship, received signals when the spacecraft was making its 30th circular orbit.
For the past few decades, the Xinhua media agency has been assisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to strategically shape how the public views key events for the past few decades through falsified and misleading articles. From events like the 1958 Great Leap Forward to the Cultural Revolution, the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre to the persecution of Falun Gong starting in 1999, Xinhua has always been involved in fabricating news. Fabricated news stories against Falun Gong by Xinhua written in 1999 are estimated to be in the thousands.
Zhang Jielian, an Epoch Times commentator, stated that Xinhua and other mouthpieces of the CCP have functioned in brainwashing the Chinese public for the past decade. Zhang said that their falsified reports are opiates that are forcefully administered to the Chinese public in order to numb their minds. He said they subscribe to the notion that, “Any lie can become the truth as long as it is repeated three times.”
Zhang also said that Xinhua.net has a history of immediately deleting fake articles once people have caught onto the lies. But this time, Xinhua was forced to publicly apologize because the Shenzhou article had been published by many websites and was already being widely discussed.
The original article from Xinhua.net is as follows:
An Exciting Night on the Pacific: Shenzhou VII Spacecraft Orbits 30 Times
By Wu Dengfeng, Mei Shixiong, Wang Yushuan
September 27 was a very exciting night.
The twenty-thousand-ton-Yuanwang 1 space tracking ship bobbed up and down with the rolling of the ocean waves like a raft.
This is the 27th night at sea for the Yuanwang 1. Over the past 27 days, Yuanwang 1 has endured and battled with wind and waves in a vast ocean far from the motherland. Along with four sister ships, they have maintained a channel of communication between the three astronauts and their base on Chinese soil.
Thirty minutes later, the Shenzhou VII had orbited Earth 30 times and has passed over Yuanwang 1 for the sixth time. Within ten minutes, the astronauts have completed the orbital module confirmation and have removed their spacesuits.
One of the most intense moments occurred when the astronauts entered the re-entry module from the orbital module.
Because of the difference in the travel route of the spacecraft and the orbiting of the Earth, it is difficult for the other trackers to accurately follow the spacecraft. The job is entirely left up to Yuanwang 1. Its ability to accurately transfer messages between the spacecraft and the communication center could mean either success or failure for the astronauts to safely exit the module.
“Level one deployment!” The verbal command came from the cabin. Rows and rows of innumerable signal lights blinks in the various engine rooms. There were over a hundred technical personnel with their eyes tightly fixed on the monitor screens. The hulls on both sides of the boat were like a pair of four-meter long fins being slowly stretched out, making the Yuanwang 1 seem like a large mythical fish-bird spreading it wings across the sea surface..
The USB radar room was the core monitoring zone in the entire ship.
“Five minutes to prepare! Point antenna toward waiting area.”
“Understood.”
Head operator, Zhou Xingguo, is standing against the control panel, gently pushing the control stick. The towering radar antenna on the deck slowly turns toward the direction of the spacecraft. Yuanwang 1 shifts and sways with the surge of the waves, but the large antenna remains pointed and steady, toward their trajectory.
“One minute to prepare!”
“Tick, tick…” anticipation seemed to intensify with every passing second.
Suddenly, a bright line flashed across the screen, and a bright dot appeared. With a few quick, clean moves, Zhou Xingguo nailed the dot in the center of the screen.
“Changjiang 1 has found the destination!”
“Changjiang 1 has completed double capture!”
The dispatcher’s firm voice broke the silence on the ship. At this point, they were 12 seconds ahead of schedule.
“Normal overall pressure in cockpit cabin!”
“Normal oxygen pressure in cockpit cabin!”
Images and data of the spacecraft are transported to the distant motherland through radio waves.
“Pressure valve, orbital complex has been reduced to 40 kPa, over,” the voices of the astronauts were as clear as can be.
“Understood!” replied the commander. Speaking from thousands of miles away, his voice was powerful and motivating.
Ten minutes later, the spacecraft disappeared again under the horizon. Enthusiastic applause and excited cheer pierced the night silence and echoed across the Pacific.
