In recent years, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has earned a negative international reputation for oppressing its people. To improve its image, the CCP has been actively engaging foreign and Taiwanese internet celebrities to visit China for free trips, in an attempt to whitewash its actions. Even internet celebrities from Hong Kong have received invitations suspected to be part of this political strategy, but one of them, JERSON, bluntly responded by saying, “You’ve got the wrong person.”
JERSON, a Hong Kong internet celebrity currently residing in Malaysia, revealed on his YouTube channel that he had received an invitation from Trip.com to participate in a tour called the “Hong Kong YouTuber Mainland China Group Tour,” with full sponsorship provided. The itinerary included destinations such as Sichuan, Xinjiang, Guizhou, Yunnan, Chongqing, Jiangxi, Inner Mongolia, Northeast China, and Qingdao.
Trip.com is an online travel agency under the Ctrip Group based in Singapore, with Ctrip Group being a large Chinese travel website headquartered in Shanghai. Last year, following the “Five-Star Flag Incident” involving EVA Air’s The Gaia Hotel in Paris, Trip.com removed the hotel from its platform, leading to suspicions among Taiwanese citizens regarding its background and prompting calls for a boycott of Trip.com.
In response to the invitation, JERSON humorously remarked, “Your goodwill is appreciated, but I tend to be outspoken, often swear, and love telling the truth. Recently, YouTube even certified me as having ‘Intermittent Psychotic Dysfunction Disorder,’ so if you’ve watched my videos, you’ll know. I’m afraid that if I go, not only will I suddenly start jumping like a gorilla and screaming about a 5,000-year-old culture, but I’ll also be filming things like… ‘Oh, look at all these leeks moving in the streets!’ Oh dear, it’s so miraculous!”
Mockingly, he added, “If this continues… I’m afraid I might just disappear, hahaha.”
At the end of his post, JERSON emphatically stated, “You’ve got the wrong person! I’m not ‘Liangdai Guan’ (a slang term for pro-China internet personalities).”
The CCP’s poor international image, coupled with its aggressive wolf warrior diplomacy, has led to numerous adversaries on the global stage. Despite facing economic challenges and internal political crises, the CCP has spared no expense in courting foreign internet celebrities to visit China for free, offering various services for propaganda purposes, including visits to sensitive regions like Tibet and Xinjiang, areas of concern for international human rights organizations.
Last year, Taiwan internet celebrity Zhong Mingxuan frequently traveled to mainland China and produced videos expressing pro-CCP views, sparking heated debates on Taiwanese social media platforms. Another well-known Taiwanese internet celebrity, “Potter King,” publicly pointed out the activities of the “Straits Cross-Strait Youth Association,” which aims to manipulate young Taiwanese individuals for cognitive warfare purposes.
In June this year, official recruitment information released by various Chinese state media, including China Youth Daily, announced the “China-Global Youth Influencer Exchange Program,” inviting popular internet celebrities with at least 300,000 followers on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube to visit Suzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and other cities on a 10-day free trip.
Under JERSON’s aforementioned post, many fans advised him against going to mainland China:
“Be cautious, it could be a trap, and you might be arrested once you cross the border.”
“They are willing to spend money to paint a picture of peace and prosperity, rather than helping those in need.”
“Others might fall into a pit, but you could be walking into a net.”
“You need to be careful, if the money doesn’t work, next time they might use seduction, the so-called ‘dessert after dinner.'”
These comments reflect growing concerns about potential hidden agendas behind these sponsored trips to China for internet celebrities.