Above photo: Regina mail carrier Linying Su refused to deliver the Epoch Times because she said she was concerned its coverage of the Chinese government and the coronavirus could add to anti-Asian sentiment. Jin Liu.
NOTE: The Epoch Times is a far right publication published by the Falun Gong cult. It demonizes the Chinese government with unsubstantiated claims.
Two Canada Post workers in Regina were temporarily suspended earlier this month after they refused to deliver the latest sample edition of the Epoch Times.
The head of the local CUPW union that represents postal workers said both mail carriers were escorted from the building when they informed their supervisors they were unwilling to deliver the publication. They were suspended without pay for three days.
According to its sample issue, the Epoch Times was created to “bring honest and uncensored news to people oppressed by deception and tyranny in communist China.”
The paper sells subscriptions in dozens of countries and makes some content available free on its website, which, according to the paper, gets about 5.7 million readers per month in Canada. It occasionally mails out free, unsolicited sample editions through Canada Post as advertising mail.
The paper was founded in the U.S. in 2000 by Chinese-American followers of the Falun Gong spiritual practice, who have been persecuted by the Chinese government. In the past, it has broken stories about human rights abuses in China.
Epoch Times content runs the gamut from articles about health and wellness to science, politics and technology. But its main focus has been news and current affairs stories that are critical of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
In recent years, it has expanded its coverage of U.S. politics and gained traction among some supporters of former U.S. president Donald Trump by covering topics such as Spygate, the QAnon conspiracy theory and unfounded allegations of election fraud.
On its site, the paper describes itself as non-partisan and “independent of any influence from corporations, governments or political parties.”
In its sample issue, the Epoch Times says it has a “reputation for independent, fact-based traditional journalism” and its goal is “to serve the public benefit and be truly responsible to society.”
‘I’m not for censorship’
Ramiro Sepulveda, one of the suspended postal workers, told CBC News he objects to the insinuations in some of the paper’s past coverage of the origins of the coronavirus, which the paper calls “the CCP virus.”
“I’m not for censorship. I’m not against freedom of speech,” he said. “What my thing is, is there is no disclaimer stating that this was theory.”
He says he went straight to his supervisor when he saw the free editions that were set to be delivered earlier this month.
“I said, ‘That Epoch Times, I’m not delivering it. It goes against everything I believe in.'”
The second worker, Linying Su, who was born in China, said she felt uncomfortable delivering the paper because she feared its coverage of the Chinese government could contribute to anti-Chinese and anti-Asian sentiment in Canada and misconceptions around the origins of the coronavirus.
“This is not just about Chinese Canadians; it’s about all Asian Canadians,” she told CBC News in a conversation through Facebook. “The unjustified discrimination against Chinese Canadians would turn to discrimination against all Asian Canadians….
“I may not be able to stop other people from delivering these papers, but I can stop myself from doing things that betray my own belief.”