Shawn Yue Angers Chinese Netizens By Sharing An Article Referring To COVID-19 As “Wuhan Virus”
He has since deleted his post, but the internet never forgets.
The report Shawn posted talks about Taiwanese researchers discovering the possibility of using stem cell therapy to reverse some of the effects of COVID-19. “I hope this news is true,” the 38-year-old wrote. “I wish for everyone’s good health, a peaceful world, and for us to get through this difficult time together.”
Unfortunately, “peace” was not what he got. Instead of focusing on the hopefulness of the news, Chinese netizens took offence at the name “Wuhan virus” in the article’s headline, and by the time Shawn realised his mistake and took the post down, it was too late. Screenshots were taken and spread all over social media, along with some pretty hateful remarks.
When the 2019 novel coronavirus was first reported, it was widely referred to as the “Wuhan virus”, due to its alleged origins in the Chinese city. The World Health Organization later officially named it COVID-19, removing mention of Wuhan in order to avoid references to a specific place and to prevent stigmatisation.
Since then, how one should or should not be calling the disease has almost been as widely discussed as the pandemic itself. Hongkong actor Anthony Wong went on a defiant rant about the name change, while Hongkong actress Fala Chen recently spoke out against US president Donald Trump’s use of the term “Chinese virus”, sparking an intense debate among netizens.
And now, Hongkong actor Shawn Yue is in hot soup after innocently sharing what was supposed to be a positive news article on Instagram Stories.
Related Stories
Shopping
