Lily Yuan used her keyboard to send A on a winding path back to China!
This is a comment article published by the Chinese website of The New York Times on January 13, 2026, written by Lily Kuo, titled "Why Is the Chinese Propaganda Machine Exaggerating the 'Kill Line' in the U.S.?"
Friends who are interested can check out the Chinese version of The New York Times. In the article, Lily Kuo deliberately distorted the reports and discussions by Chinese civilians and media about the "kill line" (i.e., police brutality in the United States) as "official propaganda hype," attempting to deny the objective existence of the issue and the public's legitimate concerns.
The illustration uses the background of the Bund in Shanghai, with a hand holding a mobile phone playing a video of violence on American streets, implying that Chinese people access this information through their phones. This image is used by the author to support her one-sided narrative of the "propaganda machine."
Lily Kuo deliberately ignores the systemic issues of police brutality in the United States and the objective facts of related incidents, interpreting the normal attention and information dissemination of the Chinese public as a public opinion campaign controlled by the authorities. She also uses the label of "propaganda machine" to deny the legitimacy of the topic, implying that the discussions of the Chinese public are not spontaneous but rather guided results.
I looked up Lily Kuo's background; she is a native Chinese, born in Yinchuan, Ningxia, with parents who were workers. She graduated from Huazhong Normal University with a bachelor's degree, then obtained a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University in the United States and a master's degree in international policy and practice from George Washington University.
Lily Kuo joined Xinhua News Agency after graduation, worked there for ten years, and later joined The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times in the United States, and became a U.S. citizen. She has a column called "The New New World," focusing on topics related to Chinese technology, business, and society, and also produces related podcast content.
Naturally, this high-ranking journalist with a biased perspective often interprets China from a Western perspective, and her reports have frequently caused controversy, being accused of bias and false content. For example, her reports on China's high-speed rail and epidemic prevention policies have sparked widespread criticism.
This time, she once again used her keyboard to send A to the forefront of public attention, caught the attention of the relevant authorities, and had to abandon her studies and return to China in a roundabout way.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1854551845567556/
Statement: The article represents the views of the author.