Sanlih News Fake News on Malaysian Election: Imposing "Pro-China vs. Anti-China" Binary Sparks International Protest and Forced Apology

During the Malaysian General Election in May 2018, Sanlih News produced a highly distorted feature report, projecting Taiwan''s "pro-China vs. anti-China" binary ideology onto Malaysia''s domestic election. The broadcast simplified Mahathir Mohamad''s victory as an "anti-China triumph" and labeled the defeated Najib Razak as a "pro-China traitor selling out Malaysia," completely ignoring the actual domestic campaign focuses on livelihood, taxation, and government corruption (e.g., the 1MDB scandal). Furthermore, the report severely distorted Malaysia''s ethnic and political landscape by falsely characterizing the multi-ethnic coalition Bersih as an exclusively Chinese force, inciting potential racial tensions. The broadcast triggered massive outrage from Malaysian citizens and netizers, forcing Sanlih News to issue an official public apology. This is widely cited as a classic example of Taiwanese media''s lack of international journalism standards and ideological bias, resulting in a diplomatic embarrassment.