Uploading Swiss Videos with "Beautiful China"... "Now Stealing Scenery Too?" Flood of Criticism

Chinese Media Posts Video Illegally Using Foreign Scenery
"It's a Lie," Netizens Protest, Video Deleted Without Explanation

A rural landscape video that the Chinese media outlet 'China Daily' posted on its official social networking service (SNS) account and then deleted. / Photo by YouTube capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] A Chinese media outlet posted a photo of Swiss scenery and introduced it as "Beautiful China," sparking criticism from netizens. Some sarcastically remarked, "Now China is even stealing landscapes." This comes amid ongoing friction caused by Chinese netizens and some media claiming other countries' cultures as their own, a so-called 'cultural engineering,' and now they are being accused of even plagiarizing photos.

The Chinese state-run media 'China Daily,' published in English, recently posted a short video on its official social media accounts such as Twitter and Facebook with the caption "Beautiful China."

The video shows a white dog walking along a road. Surrounding the dog are a vast lake, mountain ranges, and a blue sky, creating a spectacular scene. 'China Daily' even asked, "Wouldn't you like to take a walk with your dog in a beautiful and peaceful small village?"

Netizens who saw the video expressed admiration, saying things like "I didn't know China was this beautiful" and "I want to visit." However, their praise soon turned into suspicion. One netizen claimed, "Chinese media is lying that this Swiss scenery was filmed in China."

Other suspicious netizens compared the scenery in the video with footage posted by a Swiss YouTuber. As a result, it was revealed that the video introduced as being from China was actually unauthorized use of Swiss scenery uploaded by another YouTuber.

After learning this, the original video creator reported it on Facebook and Twitter and protested to 'China Daily' to take down the video. As the controversy grew, China Daily deleted the problematic video without any explanation.

A famous Chinese YouTuber uploaded a video of making kimchi and introduced it as "Chinese food," causing controversy. / Photo by YouTube capture

In response, domestic and international netizens criticized, saying things like "They took down the video without an apology" and "It's absurd to claim another country's scenery as China." One netizen sarcastically criticized, "Is China now trying to steal even landscapes?"

Previously, some Chinese netizens and media sparked controversy by claiming kimchi and hanbok as 'traditional Chinese culture.' Chinese local media such as 'Global Times' reported on November 24 last year that an international standard for the kimchi industry, led by China, was officially established.

At that time, the media claimed that 'pao cai,' a pickled vegetable dish from Sichuan, received approval from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and argued that this was a humiliation for Korea, the 'homeland of kimchi.'

Moreover, in January, 'Li Ziqi,' a famous Chinese YouTuber with 14 million subscribers, caused controversy by introducing kimchi as 'Chinese food' in a kimchi-making video.

Recently, Chinese netizens also sparked controversy by claiming that the Korean traditional costume 'hanbok' originated from the Ming dynasty's 'hanfu.'

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.