How China Handled Two Self-Immolation Incidents: One Broadcasted, One Censored

Chinese television footage shows a badly burned individual from the alleged self-immolation incident at Tiananmen Square on Jan. 23, 2001. The incident was staged by the CCP to slander the peaceful practice of Falun Gong. Newsmakers/Getty Images

In an era where it is hard to discern fake news from factual reporting, at times, it is a country’s government that actually decides how a piece of news gets presented to its citizens.

Here are two cases of self-immolation incidents—one real, the other a hoax—that were handled very differently by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to manipulate public opinion; in one case, the regime censored a real protest that claimed many lives, and in the other case, they staged a hoax and created slanderous propaganda out of it.

1. Tibetan Self-Immolation

After Tapey, a Tibetan monk in his 20s, set himself on fire on Feb. 27, 2009, to protest against the Chinese communist regime’s years of suppression, more than 150 Tibetans—including monks, nuns, students, and teachers—are reported to have followed suit, according to the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT).