Photo: IC

China's cyberspace regulator on Thursday released a list of rumors and fake information related to the history of the Communist Party of China, including key facts on revolutionary leaders, heroes and historical events, in a bid to create a better and cleaner cyberspace. 

The list was published by China's internet anti-rumors platform, co-hosted by the Cyberspace Administration of China and Xinhua News Agency Network, as rumors and fake information involving Party history seriously pollute cyberspace, misleading the public and damaging the image of the Party. 

For example, the claim that two soldiers of the "Five Heroes of Langya Mountain" did not jump off the mountain but sneaked away was regarded as a rumor. In the story of the "Five Heroes of Langya Mountain," the five soldiers have been described for decades in textbooks as heroes who chose to leap to their deaths from a mountain in Hebei Province rather than surrender to Japanese troops. 

Additionally, the claim that Mao Anying, son of Chairman Mao Zedong, died because he exposed himself while he was preparing fried rice with eggs was also declared a rumor. 

Other rumors include the defamation of Lei Feng, a famous soldier in China known for his generosity and altruistic deeds, the denial of important battles fought by the Chinese Red Army during the Long March, the slander against the CPC and its rule in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) and the denial on the significance of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-53).

An official from the Cyberspace Administration of China said the release of the list is an important measure to establish a correct view of the history of the Party and oppose historical nihilism.

The Communist Party of China (CPC), the world's biggest Marxist ruling party with over 91 million members, launched a campaign on Party history learning and education among all of its members in February, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Speaking at the campaign's launch meeting, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, called for efforts to study the Party's history, understand its theories, do practical work and make new advances, Xinhua reported.

Qiu Ziming, an internet celebrity with more than 2.5 million followers, received a jail term of eight months on May 31 for defaming martyrs. This was the first reported case of a suspect being charged with defaming martyrs after China's top legislature added relevant clauses to the Criminal Law.

Qiu, known online as "Labixiaoqiu", published false information on China's Twitter-like social media platform Sina Weibo, smearing the four heroes who were killed during the illegal trespassing of the Galwan Valley Line of Actual Control by the Indian military.