According to a report by Chinese media Caixin on Wednesday (October 7), Hong Guangyu, a veteran media person who has long tracked food safety, was taken away from his home in Xiamen, Fujian Province, across the province by police in Dalian, Liaoning Province in mid-September this year on suspicion of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble." He was also criminally detained. Sources said that this case is related to the "Dalian Cherry Tree Death Incident" in 2022. Hong Guangyu once spoke for local farmers.
Caixin's article reporting on Hong Guangyu's criminal detention was no longer viewable on the morning of Thursday (8th). The original web page displayed "404" and "The page you want to view does not exist or has been deleted." The save of the independent online media "China Digital Times" retains the original content of Caixin. Previously, at the end of September, the well-known blogger on the
Hong Guangyu was a reporter for Beijing Science and Technology News, won the Beijing Journalism Award, and taught classes at East China Normal University and other schools. He later became an online science blogger, commenting on genetically modified (GM) food, "zombie meat" (referring to aged frozen meat) and other issues.
In November 2024, Hong Guangyu wrote an article on the WeChat public account "Past Events Exhibition Hall" to report on the "Dalian Cherry Tree Death Incident". The article pointed out that in 2022, local cherry trees died on a large scale, and the affected farmers all used pesticides from the "Dianlong Agricultural Materials Sales Company".
Expert identification sought by farmers and experts interviewed by Hong Guangyu pointed out that these cherry trees most likely died of "copper ion poisoning" due to the sales of copper-containing fungicides. However, the government's expert team ruled out the above possibility and determined that the cause of death was "fungal infection."
Hong Guangyu said that Kaifang Chun, Pan Fengrong and others in the government expert group had interests in the company "Dianlong". For example, Kaifang Chun served as the platform for the company's technical exchange meeting, and Pan Fengrong once recommended Dianlong's products at a lecture. In this regard, Hong Guangyu questioned that the expert group did not avoid interests and "joined forces with enterprises to make a deal."
"This case can promote some progress in the system... When farmers are bullied and harmed, why are they so helpless and ignored?" Hong Guangyu wrote in the article that he has always felt "uneasy" about the case.
Hong Guangyu continued to follow up on the case at that time, revealing on Weibo and other platforms that Dianlong's products had problems such as "counterfeit production, substandard products, and false propaganda", and reported the case to relevant government agencies.
In September this year, before Hong Guangyu was detained, Dalian cherry tree farmers Yu Kewei and Ji Xiaowei had been arrested. Caixin quoted documents provided by family members as saying that Yu Kewei and Ji Xiaowei were also accused of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble." The two had long defended their rights due to the Cherry Tree case. Among them, Yu Kewei has been involved in litigation with Dianlong Company for many years, and the case is still being retried.
In addition to Hong Guangyu, there are also "anti-counterfeiter" Wang Hai, self-media personality Li Guangjun and others who have spoken out for cherry tree farmers. Dianlong Company once filed a lawsuit against Li Guangjun, and the court found that he had damaged the company's reputation and should compensate him for economic losses; Wang Hai was reportedly suppressed by the police recently. Wang Hai published an X post on the 7th saying that his assistant Cai Jin was also taken away on the same day that Hong Guangyu was arrested; Wang Haolong, the head of Wang Hai's laboratory, was also accused of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble"; Wang Hai's own passport was declared invalid; in addition, lawyers involved in the case were also arrested.
Wu Lei, a Chinese human rights lawyer who has had his license revoked and moved to Japan, commented on the X platform on September 26: "If the person taken away has committed another crime, evidence will be obtained and dealt with in accordance with the law. If their 'problem' is to insist on reporting, prosecuting, helping farmers defend their rights, and criticizing Dalian's functional departments, then only the person who raised the issue will be dealt with, and the Dalian Cherry case itself will remain intact."
Wu Lei questioned that in the name of "anti-crime", the government not only arrested cherry farmers, but also affected anti-counterfeiting bloggers, lawyers, assistants, media and inspection personnel. He called on all central government agencies to investigate the case in accordance with the law. Public security officers at all levels in Dalian City should recuse themselves, and the rights of the arrested persons to meet with lawyers should be protected in accordance with the law.
