This is funny: The China Daily has published a story about Beijing’s second airport, using an article in a Hong Kong newspaper as its only source. Excerpt:
Daxing to get Beijing’s 2nd airport
After seven years of deliberation over the preferred location, Beijing’s second airport is set to come up at Daxing district in the city’s south, Hong Kong-based Ta Kung Pao reported on Tuesday.
The newspaper quoted an unnamed source as saying that the National Development and Reform Commission, the civil aviation authority, and the governments of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei have finally reached a consensus to build the second capital airport in Daxing district. Now the plan awaits the nod of the State Council, or the cabinet, the newspaper said.
Xinhua has also republished the China Daily story verbatim. This means that the state-owned news agency and state-owned newspaper, both headquartered in Beijing are breaking news about the capital that comes from an “unnamed source” quoted in a Hong Kong newspaper.
Ta Kung Pao (大公報) is a Hong Kong newspaper founded in 1902, but funded heavily by the Beijing government since 1949. Nonetheless, it’s a strange place for Beijing’s state-owned media to get information about Beijing.
- The China Daily: Daxing to get Beijing’s 2nd airport
- Xinhua: Daxing to get Beijing’s 2nd airport