#人民的公义# Unfortunately, the Global Times’ English article on Zhang’s defamation claim is biased. The point is that Zhang has never visited the “notorious” Yasukuni Shrine - photos show he was in the very park that was shown in CCTV 2 News shot just a few days before his visit (which was in March 2018), posing in front of cherry blossoms. Separately, the Nogi Shrine, infamous as the article suggests, has never been an issue in Chinese news and reports before the so-called August incident - numerous news reported Nogizaka 46 ( a Japanese girl band whose name is derived from the “infamous” shrine) and the Nogi Shrine in 2019 and 2020, and nobody ever raised a brow.
On top of all these, people should note that Zhang is totally a patriot. Before and after rising to his stardom (2011-2021), he made so many public patriotic remarks showing he had always been proud of being Chinese and would not be hesitate to die for his motherland. He was also usually among the first to donate whenever a need rose. Isn’t it true that people should always be judged by his/her acts instead of a few photos without context?
Disappointedly, here the Global Times fails to report the facts and details evidencing the smear campaign against Zhang, nor does it mention his patriotic deeds - we need an unbiased point of view and we need real news!