Su Chii-cherng

Su Chii-cherng (; August 1, 1957 – September 14, 2018) was a Taiwanese diplomat who notably worked for the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO), Taiwan's de facto embassy in countries which have recognised the Chinese government. He took over as the director of TECO's branch in Osaka on July 8, 2018. On September 14 of the same year, he committed suicide by hanging in his home in Toyonaka at the age of 61, allegedly in response to criticism of the office's response to Typhoon Jebi amplified by pro-China disinformation.

Life and career Su Chii-cherng was born in Zhuqi Township, Chiayi County. In 1985, he went to Japan to study at the Graduate School of Japanese Language and Literature at Osaka University, and was awarded a second master's degree there in April 1988.

Su began working for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs beginning in 1991. In 1995, he became the Third Secretary of TECO in Japan. In 2007, He also previously served as the deputy secretary-general at TECO, and in 2011 worked as deputy director-general of the Department of Asia, East and Pacific Affairs within the ministry. In December 2013, he moved to Naha City in the Okinawa Prefecture of Japan to serve as director of the Naha Branch of TECO.

In March 2018, Su Qicheng visited Ishigaki Island and briefly described the history of Taiwanese immigration to the island. While serving in Naha, he regularly contributed articles to Japanese media in four and a half years, publishing 40 articles speaking out for Taiwan and promoting exchanges between Taiwan and Japan. Su transferred to the Osaka branch to serve as its director on July 8, 2018.

Suicide On September 4, 2018, Typhoon Jebi hit Japan. Kansai International Airport, which was built on reclaimed land, suffered heavy flooding. Additionally, high winds blew an oil truck into the only bridge, damaging it. Ultimately, approximately 3,000 passengers became stranded in the airport terminal. On September 5, Japanese officials began rescue efforts, sending ships and buses to carry passengers out of the airport. Passengers from mainland China were taken to designated transfer stations, such as the parking lot of a shopping mall in Izumisano. Subsequently, the Chinese consulate in Osaka sent a car to collect mainland Chinese passengers.

The same day, an account on Weibo in mainland China bearing the username "Storm Baby" posted messages and fake videos claiming China was sending buses to the airport to rescue mainland Chinese passengers. Coverage of this fake story snowballed, eventually reaching content farm Guancha. Other Taiwanese media outlets would report this allegation in large numbers. The scandal spread further, and the Osaka office became the target of public criticism. On September 7, there were calls from opposition members in Taiwan to hold China accountable. Following the discovery, police were informed of the death and conducted a cordon search, discovering a suicide note.

Aftermath Subsequent investigation verified that the Chinese embassy had sent a car to the parking lot of the Izumisano City Shopping Center, not to the airport itself as had been claimed. Following Su's death, the police identified the "GuRuGuRu" account as belonging to a university student with the surname "You". The court later ruled that he was not guilty by way of impunity. Another woman, surnamed Pan, said that the account in fact belonged to her, not to You. Later, the Taiwanese government revised several laws to increase the penalties for spreading fake news, the maximum penalty becoming being life imprisonment.

Taiwanese state prosecutors investigated a social media account bearing the username "slow", which had been involved in propagating fake news about TECO. It was discovered the account belonged to Yang Hui-ru, an influencer and online troll with ties to the Democratic Progressive Party. Taiwanese prosecutors also alleged that Yang had operated a group chat named "Kaohsiung Group" on the Line messaging app, where she paid members NT$10,000 per month to spread false information to other online communities in an effort to sway public opinion. Much of this information was subsequently reported by the mainstream media uncritically. She also alleged that politicians and media outlets were responsible for damage to Su's reputation, saying they had made unfair criticisms and willfully misled the public.

On March 4, 2019, Japan's NHK aired a special report on the incident as a part of the news program .