Investigated Content: Edited video, published on Kwai, combines images of aggressions carried out against employees of a Chinese bank during a coaching training session with speeches by former President Lula, during an interview with a Chinese newspaper. The edition suggests that the PT advocates the implementation of a communist regime in Brazil. About the images of the aggressions, it is written: “Lula says he wants to implement Chinese communism in Brazil. See how the worker is treated in China”.
where it was published: Kwai.
Completion of Proof: It is misleading video which suggests that former President Lula wants to implement a communist regime in Brazil, if he wins the presidential election in October this year. Contrary to what the content verified here claims, the PT did not say that he intended to adopt a communist regime like what is practiced in China.
The video joins excerpts from two different contents. One of them shows images of an episode of aggression against employees of a Chinese bank. Another excerpt brings praise from the PT to the government of that country. A text superimposed on the images suggests that the aggressions are an institutionalized practice by the Chinese communist regime and tries to associate them with the ex-president’s praise.
“China has a party that has power, it has a strong state, that makes decisions and that people comply with. Something we don’t have here in Brazil. I think China is an example for development for the world […]”, says the PT member in an excerpt highlighted in the video. Another cut in the video complements Lula’s speech with the following excerpt: “But I have a lot of faith, a lot of hope that we will be able to do this from 2022”, leading to the understanding that the former president hopes to implement the displayed aggressions.
In fact, when Lula made this statement, he was referring to the need for developing countries to be independent from the exchange rate policy influenced by the United States. He adds: “I worked a lot with Hu Jintao [ex-presidente da China] the need for a South-South relationship. Not depending on the North as we are depending on it. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get there, but I have a lot of faith, a lot of hope that we will be able to do that from 2022 onwards.”
In the full video of the interview, published on July 7, 2021, Lula praises the Chinese government in relation to economic development, implementation of measures adopted during the covid-19 pandemic and investments made in structuring areas in that country.
He does not praise the physical punishment of bank employees during coaching training carried out by the company itself. The case had international repercussion in 2016, and two bank executives were suspended.
For Comprova, it is misleading content taken from the original context and used in another so that its meaning is altered; that uses inaccurate data or that leads to an interpretation different from the author’s intention; content that confuses, with or without the deliberate intent to cause harm.
Scope of publication: Comprova investigates the most far-reaching suspicious content on social networks. As of July 20, the video had 136,600 views, 1,000 comments, 4,500 likes and 6,300 shares.
What the author of the publication says: Comprova contacted the person responsible for the publication through a message on the Kwai app, but there was no response. No author profiles were found on other social networks.
How do we check: To verify, Comprova searched Google for the terms “Lula”, “interview” and “Chinese newspaper”. Accessed on YouTube the broadcast of the interview, held on July 7, 2021, and searched for articles from the media (Globe, People’s Daily China, BBC News and Reuters) on the punishment of Chinese bank employees in June 2016.
Previous checks involving the interview of the former president, carried out by the former president, were also accessed. checkfor the AFP We check and through the website Rumors.org.
Report on abuse of workers in China
The misleading video begins with the exhibition of a report carried by the Globe on June 21, 2016. The footage shows eight employees at a bank in Changzhi, a city in northern China, being beaten for having performed poorly at work. The recording was released on the internet, for the first time, in Facebook from the newspaper People’s Dailyfrom China, a day earlier, on June 20.
At the time, the case had international repercussions (The globe, Globo News, BBC News, Reuters) and two bank executives were suspended.
According to reports, the assaults took place at a training session for more than 200 employees at Changzhi Zhangze Rural Commercial Bank. Course instructor Jiang Yang issued an apology, saying the beating was “a model of training” he had been applying for years, and had not been instigated by bank leaders.
As reported to BBC Newsthe Changzhi local government issued a statement stating that the Shanxi Rural Credit Cooperatives Union, which regulates the bank, had set up a group to investigate the incident.
According to the Changzhi government document, the bank’s president and deputy governor were suspended for “not strictly checking the course content,” and the bank was supposed to assist employees in seeking compensation from the training company.
Lula interview
In the investigated content, after Globo’s report on the aggressions, the video is cut and starts to show excerpts from the ex-president Lula’s interview with the Chinese newspaper Guancha, in July 2021. In the conversation, PT praises the government of China in response to the question of how the country managed to evolve more than other BRICS member nations. The bloc is made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
During the interview, which lasted just over 51 minutes, Lula addressed several topics, such as the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, investments in education and the country’s economic evolution. The conversation was reported by the Brazilian press (Sheet and Power 360) and was also shared on the Youtube channel of the former president.
At no point does Lula talk about the attacks on Chinese bank workers, nor does he say that he intends to implant communism in Brazil if he is elected in 2022.
Excerpts from the interview were used out of context
Contrary to what the content suggests, which has similarities with another check made by Comprovait is not true that PT has said that it will be able to implement authoritarian restrictions inspired by China.
The checked publication edits the video of the aggressions with the insertion of speeches by former president Lula to the interviewer Eric Li, from the Chinese newspaper Guancha, when the PT praised the Chinese government on topics such as the economy, conducting actions against the advance of covid-19. 19 and investments in education. However, he did not say that he intended to adopt any model used by the Chinese government, including with regard to the treatment of workers, as the verified video suggests.
There is a distortion in excerpts of the former president’s speech. The first time the similar piece of disinformation was circulated accompanied by an excerpt from Lula’s interview, it was related to religious issues in China. Now, the same content has been disseminated again on social networks under the tone that the PT wants to implant Chinese communism in Brazil.
The speech highlighted in the video verified here to indicate that Lula intends to implement communism is, in fact, a PT answer to the question about why only China, among the BRICS countries, has managed to develop economically.
“China has a strong State, which makes decisions and which people comply with”, conduct that, according to him, does not occur in Brazil. Then, the former president praises the Chinese country for fighting the covid-19 pandemic: “China was only able to fight the coronavirus as quickly as it fought because it has a strong party, a strong state. Because he has a pulse, he has a commanding voice, we don’t have that here in Brazil.”
The other segment of the former president’s speech that is out of context is the following sentence: “China is an example to the world. And I hope other countries learn their lesson from China. I have a lot of faith, a lot of hope, that we will be able to do that, starting in 2022.”
In this final stretch, in fact, the former president praises China’s economic development over the past 20 years. “I think China is an example of development for the world. And I hope that other countries learn the lesson from China so that we can be richer, be stronger, have more distribution of wealth and have a more humane world.”
Finally, when he says that he has “a lot of faith, a lot of hope, that we will be able to do this, starting in 2022”, Lula refers to the independence of the countries of the global south, which are developing nations, in relation to the exchange rate policy influenced by the dollar.
“I worked a lot with Hu Jintao [ex-presidente da China] the need for a South-South relationship. Not depending on the North as we are depending on it. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get there, but I have a lot of faith, a lot of hope that we will be able to do that from 2022 onwards.”
This entire passage can be viewed between the minutes 00:20:55 and 00:22:06 from the original interview.
why do we investigate: Comprova investigates suspicious content that goes viral on social media about the covid-19 pandemic, public policies of the federal government and presidential elections. The video verified here quotes the former president and pre-candidate for the presidency Lula. False information involving political actors is harmful to the democratic process and hinders the voter’s decision, which must be made based on true information.
Other checks on the topic: Former President Lula’s interview with Guancha has already been misrepresented and used in similar pieces of disinformation that were subject to checks by the Estadão Checkgives AFP and the website Rumors.org.
In previous verifications involving the pre-candidate for the Planalto, Comprova showed that post lies when trying to associate Lula and Manuela D’Ávila with stabbing Bolsonarowhat it is false that Lula and the president-elect of Colombia want to force people to share a house with other families is that Post uses photo of acts without Lula’s presence to try to discredit election polls.
Investigated by: JC Online and Plural Curitiba. Verified by: Metrópoles, CNN Brasil, BandNews FM, Correio Braziliense, A Gazeta, SBT, SBT News, O Estado de S. Paulo, Folha de S. Paulo, O Popular, O Povo, Nexo and O Dia.
Source: CNN Brasil
