Lying is second nature to the CCP -- it deceives not only its own people but foreign governments as well. In the past, Western nations, harboring illusions that the CCP could reform, pursued a policy of appeasement and largely turned a blind eye to its lies. Now that those illusions have shattered and the US-China bipolar confrontation is accelerating, the international community is no longer willing to stay silent about the CCP's lies, and incidents of it being caught out are becoming more frequent. The latest case: Japan and South Korea exposing a fake news story fabricated by the CCP.
On March 30 in Seoul, South Korea, China, Japan, and South Korea held their first trilateral trade ministers' meeting in five and a half years. Attendees included South Korea's Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Ahn Duk-geun, the CCP's Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao, and Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yoji Muto. In a joint statement, the three ministers expressed support for a rules-based, open, inclusive, transparent, and non-discriminatory multilateral trading system. They also agreed to continue expanding trilateral economic and trade cooperation and to work closely together toward a high-standard China-Japan-South Korea free trade agreement.
On this, South Korea's KBS World Radio reported that China intends to use the tariff war launched by the Trump administration as an opportunity to strengthen the momentum of economically centered China-Japan-South Korea cooperation. Judging from the trilateral trade ministers' meeting and the bilateral talks held alongside it, China was the most enthusiastic of the three about a China-Japan-South Korea free trade agreement. For South Korea and Japan, China is a key export market and an important supply-chain partner, making it necessary to strengthen cooperation. But against the backdrop of the current US-China strategic competition, accelerating China-Japan-South Korea economic integration carries extremely sensitive geopolitical implications, so South Korea and Japan have taken a relatively cautious stance.
However, media reports from the CCP (or pro-CCP outlets) emphasized that "the trade ministers of the three countries reached consensus after the meeting to jointly respond to the impact of America's reciprocal tariffs." This statement is highly significant and highly sensitive, carrying substantial policy implications.
Was this actually true? Japan and South Korea exposed the lie. When asked about the CCP media report, a spokesperson for South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said the Chinese social media posts contained "some exaggerations." She suggested the joint statement's text be treated as authoritative, adding that "the three countries exchanged views on the global trade environment."
Japan took a much firmer stance. On April 2, the official X account of the Japanese Embassy in China posted in English: "Some media reports claim that Japan, China, and South Korea agreed to jointly respond to U.S. tariffs. However, Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yoji Muto stated at an April 1 press conference that no such discussion took place."
At this point, the claim that "Japan, China, and South Korea agreed to jointly respond to U.S. tariffs" was undeniably "fake news." From this incident, we can see that the CCP does this out of political motive, and the potential for it to mislead, incite, and cause harm is enormous.
In fact, the CCP has been doing this for a long time, and quite frequently. Here is another example.
On March 21, CCP Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Japan and met with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. According to the meeting summary published on the CCP Foreign Ministry's official website, "Japan fully recognizes the significance of the four political documents between China and Japan, 'respects the position stated by the Chinese side,' and is willing to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with China..." But Ishiba never said he "respects the position stated by the Chinese side."
On the 22nd, Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Ishiba "made no such statement," expressed regret over the CCP Foreign Ministry's conduct, said it had lodged a protest with China, and demanded that China delete the inaccurate account.
There are too many incidents like this to count. In fact, the CCP not only alters records of talks with foreign governments and officials, but also frequently falsifies data related to its exchanges and interactions with other countries. Here is just one example.
Regarding China's trade surplus in goods, not only is there a large gap between Chinese and foreign official figures, but there are also major discrepancies between different CCP agencies themselves. For instance, China Customs announced in the first half of 2024 that China's 2023 trade surplus was $823 billion, but the State Administration of Foreign Exchange put the figure at $594 billion -- a gap of nearly $230 billion between the two figures (equivalent to more than 1 percent of China's GDP). On June 20, 2024, the U.S. Treasury Department said Beijing should explain why its two reported 2023 trade surplus figures differed so drastically. Moreover, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been closely monitoring this issue with China since 2023.
The CCP's dictatorship allows it to cover the sky with one hand domestically, suppressing the truth and silencing dissenting voices. But when it brings this same playbook onto the international stage and lies with impunity, embarrassment is inevitable. Does the CCP not know it might be embarrassed? Of course it knows. So why does it keep doing it? Because lying has become second nature to it, and because, in the spirit of "I'm a thug, who's afraid of me," it takes pride rather than shame in lying. This is an incorrigible rogue regime.
During Trump's first term, after four years of trial and error, he finally found a principle for dealing with the CCP's rogue regime: "distrust and verify." This principle should serve as a guide for all countries dealing with the CCP. As for the "fake news," data, and materials fabricated by the CCP, the international community should expose them publicly. Japan has taken the lead, and more countries will likely follow.