A female mainland reporter attempted to take her own life in Japan after being cyberbullied by netizens for sobbing while covering the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
The 32-year-old Japan-based Zeng Ying, working for the Chinese news outlet The Paper, published what looked like a suicide note on Weibo on Tuesday, which was later widely circulated online.
Author Chen Lan then confirmed in the afternoon that Zeng was admitted to a hospital.
In another Weibo post published Wednesday, Chen explained that she was frightened because she knew Zeng had attempted suicide before and stayed in the hospital’s intensive care unit for 10 days.
Another investigative reporter Li Jifeng, a Weibo-verified user, also confirmed in a post that Zeng attempted to kill herself in Japan around 2pm Tuesday and cited sources that Zeng suffered from depression.
Zeng was spotted sobbing when live streaming the assassination of Abe for The Paper on July 8 and said, to the Japanese, Abe was a considerate president of the country.
“He contributed greatly to the friendship between China and Japan as well,” Zeng also said.
Yet, her reactions and remarks soon drew fire from mainland netizens who were busy celebrating Abe’s death across social media platforms. On the other hand, some slammed Zeng for being unprofessional and for shedding tears when live streaming.
Zeng later apologized that a new commentator should be objective, and she should not have projected her own emotions on public platforms. She also stressed her identity as a Chinese national in her apology.
Still, her apology was not accepted by mainland netizens as they recalled the history of the Japanese invasion and criticized Zeng as a Japanese who had no respect for the Chinese people.
If you or someone you know are having suicidal thoughts, help is available. Dial 2896 0000 for The Samaritans or 2382 2007 for Suicide Prevention Services.
You can also call Suicide Prevention Services at 2382 0000 or CEASE Crisis Centre of Tung Wah Groups of Hospitals at 18281.
