IS article screenshot
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A woman claiming to represent the Helsinki Times ”Chinese language edition” was exposed as unauthorised and unaffiliated after she made the decrowned Miss Finland to apologise in Chinese during a press conference held by the Miss Finland organisation.
Meiqi Qiu had introduced herself as a journalist from The Helsinki Times to enter a media event in Helsinki last Thursday. The event was arranged after Miss Finland 2024, Sarah Dzafce, relinquished her title following a racism controversy.
Dzafce had faced backlash over a photo in which she posed with her fingers pulling at the corners of her eyes.
During the press conference, Qiu asked Dzafce to deliver an apology in Mandarin, which she filmed on her mobile phone. Dzafce complied. The video was later published in Qui’s instagram page and in her WeChat Channel, under the name of the Helsinki Times.
Iltalehti published a large article focusing on Qiu’s participation based on his role as “Helsinki Times journalist”. Following the event, Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat (IS) examined Qiu’s background. They found she had no formal connection to the Helsinki Times. She was not listed on the outlet’s website and did not contribute to its content. The Helsinki Times has reported the Miss Finland controversy independently with no involvement from Qiu.
Screenshot of the Iltalehti Article.
Qiu had contacted Sunneva Sjögren, the CEO of the Miss Finland organisation, the day before the event. She claimed to be the head of the Chinese Women’s Association of Finland and the chief of Chinese news at the Helsinki Times.
IS had seen the message where Qiu wrote that she was flying from Dubai to Finland to meet her team and wanted to discuss how to manage the scandal’s response in China. Sjögren confirmed the contact and said Qiu was invited to the press event along with her colleagues.
In interviews, Dzafce said she did not know who Qiu was or what she did for work. Qiu did not introduce herself during the event, and Dzafce had not met her before that day.
Qiu had also used the names “Suvi Qiu” and ”Suvi Zhenli Qiu”. She is listed in Finland’s business register as the head of Chinese Women’s Association of Finland where IS found that she is the only one on the board of the association.
She is also mentioned in relation to the Nordic China Friendship and Development company, which also previously used the title ”Finnish Chinese Real Estate Association”.
She claimed in media interviews to own a different publication called “Helsinki Times Chinese”, which she said is not related to the English-language Helsinki Times.
Despite this, the WeChat account she runs featured a description stating the publication was founded in Finland in 2007, with its aim being to offer reliable information to ”Chinese readers about Nordic affairs”. IS used AI tools to translate parts of the account and found the content referenced The Helsinki Times directly.
Helsinki Times is an English language newspaper founded in Finland in 2007.
Qiu later told IS the profile description was outdated and would be corrected. Hours after the interview, the profile was edited to say the publication was founded in Shanghai in 2007.
Qiu explained that she had a prior agreement allowing her to publish Helsinki Times’ content in Chinese on local social platforms.
Alexis Kouros, founder of Helsinki Times, told IS that the Helsinki Times had a brief experiment in 2021 to publish Finland-related news in Chinese for the Chinese audience. A company called JimiQ, where Qui was also a involved in, was subcontracted to translate the news, and Qui was involved in translation as well. JimiQ was authorised only to publish the same news Helsinki Times published in Chinese on WeChat for the period of the collaboration agreement. The agreement ended the same year and was never renewed, and the Chinese news site was discontinued. Also, JimiQ Company has already been terminated.
Meiqi (Suvi) Qui has no journalistic training and was never involved in reporting for The Helsinki Times.
WeChat account name change history
Helsinki Times had sent multiple warnings and cease and desist messages to Qui to which she never reacted. Despite these, Qui had continued the unauthorised use of the Helsinki Times brand and news on the WeChat channel and even signed MOUs with Chinese media outlets on behalf of the English language newspaper. After some warnings, She changed the channel’s name to Nordic Times, but changed it back to The Helsinki Times again after a while until she changed the title of the WeChat channel to Nordic Times once again after the IS exposure, and removed the mention of being owner of Helsinki Times from her Instagram account and became the ”Founder” of ”Helsinki Chinese Times”
Helsinki Times has reiterated that Qui has nothing to do with the publication and is misusing the brand illegally.
HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
