Satellite news boss has powerful family ties

Satellite Television's news director is political journalist Qin Feng, who comes from a family of diplomats and is the niece of former Chinese foreign minister Li Zhaoxing.

And breaking the news of the border reopening helps Qin burnish her credentials.

Despite Satellite Television being founded in 2008 and broadcasting in Hong Kong since October 2010 with what it claims to be an ability for "telling China stories well," the station has not gained much of a following.

As for Qin, before joining Satellite Television she worked at Phoenix Television. She describes herself on her Weibo profile as a "seasoned political journalist" and a "high-end talk-show host."

So Qin moved her border reopening news on her WeChat Moments yesterday morning.

Then she remarked on Weibo at 8.48 am that "it's worth waiting to have my ticket refunded. I hope there is no quarantine for overseas arrivals after the New Year holidays end on January 3 ..."

She later expanded on the news in the afternoon, saying the mainland would scrap quarantine requirements for arrivals from January 3 as well as ending the need for a negative PCR test and using the health code.

But while Qin appears to have hit the news nail firmly and squarely on the head with the border report she has come unstuck previously.

A standout bloomer was in April 2020 after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had been absent from public view for three weeks, which led to speculation he was seriously ill or dead.

Qin joined in with two candles on her Weibo page, pointing to Kim being dead. She later apologized for moving misinformation. Her source of information had "never been wrong," she remarked. But there was a first time for everything.

Eunice Lam