【英语中国】中国记者南非遭抢报道引发口水战

Reports on Thursday that three Chinese journalists with the Xi'an Evening Post were robbed at gunpoint in Johannesburg while on assignment at the soccer World Cup created an instant wave of public concern in China.

But by Friday, alarm had turned to suspicion. The big question swirling around the Internet: Was the robbery faked?

According to the news reports, carried prominently by all major Chinese media, the three journalists were held up by several gunmen in the Johannesburg neighborhood of Soweto after they stopped their vehicle in a side street. The gunmen took off with their money and cameras.

Responding to those reports, the Chinese Foreign Ministry immediately called on South African police to better protect Chinese citizens.

The story might have ended there, except for a disturbing item that appeared in the Ningbo Evening News.

Reporter Zheng Xinwei wrote that 'it's hard to tell whether the robbery is true or faked'. Why? The previous day he had witnessed in Johannesburg a well-known Chinese soccer blogger apparently being robbed. When it was all over, the blogger handed the 'robber' some money and gave him a hug. That made him wonder whether the Xi'an journalists incident was staged also.

The blogger, Li Chengpeng, soon became the center of public attention. The veteran soccer journalist is famous for his bold style, and he once exposed a corruption scandal.

On Friday, Li came up with an explanation for the staged robbery on his blog: He had been making a movie, and the 'robbery' was part of the action. The 'robber' was his black driver.

Contacted by phone by China Real Time Report, Li expressed outrage about the Ningbo Evening News report.

'It's very strange and ridiculous,' he said. 'I can't understand what the reporter's purpose was in writing this. We're planning legal action.' He added: 'Some Chinese reporters dare not tell the truth. They are creating news, not reporting news. I feel pity and regret.'

In his blogpost, Li also wrote that a member of his film crew was involved in a genuine robbery - one that had previously gone unreported - the day after the movie robbery.

Web users aren't convinced by either side. In a survey on Tencent.com, more than 51% of respondents said that 'the robbery must be faked. They do whatever to attract eyeballs.' Some 12% disagree with that assertion, while 36% believe that 'it's hard to tell. No pictures, no truth.'

Juliet Ye / Kersten Zhang

上周四有报导说，安徽《新安晚报》的三名中国记者在约翰内斯堡报导世界杯时遭持枪抢劫。这一消息立即引发了中国公众的关注。

不过到上周五之前，警报变成了怀疑。互联网上流传的一大疑问时：抢劫案是否是假的？

据中国各大媒体在显要位置刊登的新闻报导说，在约翰内斯堡索维托地区，三名记者将所驾驶的汽车停在一条小巷里后，遭到数名持枪分子的抢劫。持枪分子抢走了他们的钱和照相机。

中国外交部立即对报导做出回应，敦促南非警方加强对中国公民的保护。

故事或许本会就此结束，只是《宁波晚报》上刊登了一篇令人不安的文章。

记者郑昕玮写道，很难说遭抢是真是假。为什么这么说呢？就在案发前一天，他亲眼看到一位在中国足坛赫赫有名的博主在约翰内斯堡自导自演了一出丑恶的“苦肉计”。 “表演”一结束，他马上给那名黑人“歹徒”发工钱，然后两个人还握手拥抱。这让他怀疑《新安晚报》的记者被抢一事是否也是事先安排好的。

博主李承鹏很快成为公众关注的焦点。这位资深足球记者以他的大胆风格闻名，他还曾曝光过一起腐败丑闻。

上周五，李承鹏在博客中对此事做出了解释：他在拍一部电影，“抢劫案”是剧情的一部分。“抢匪”是剧组的黑人司机。

“中国实时报”栏目电话联系了李承鹏，他对《宁波晚报》的报导极度愤慨。

他说，这非常奇怪、荒谬，我不明白记者这样写的目的何在，我们正在计划付诸法律手段。他还说，一些中国记者不敢说出真相，他们制造新闻，而不是在报导新闻。我感到遗憾。

李承鹏还在博文中写道，他的一名剧组人员在拍摄抢劫案后的次日，确实遭了抢劫，不过没有被报导。

网民们对双方的说法都表示怀疑。在腾讯网(Tencent.com)进行的一项调查中，有51%以上的受访者说，抢劫案肯定是假的，他们会做任何事来吸引公众的眼球。有约12%的人不同意这种说法，而有36%的人认为很难说，没有照片，没有真相。