German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (德國之聲) found itself in the middle of a hot mess after it was discovered to have used interview clips from the PRC’s state-run China Global Television Network (CGTN), the international arm of China Central Television (央視), with no attribution whatsoever. Posted on April 10, the segment featured three Taipei residents expressing pro-unification views. The footage originally appeared on CGTN days before China’s recent aggressive military exercises in the Taiwan Strait. The Chinese-language Facebook page Translation Matters (翻譯有要緊) first exposed the issue, prompting Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to lodge a formal protest. DW later acknowledged the error, removing the contested footage. “This content was not produced by the Taipei team,” it said in its apology.
