Boxun () is an aggregation website, which focuses on alleged political scandals in China. Boxun is partly backed by the

China Free Press project China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, which is partially funded by the

National Endowment for Democracy The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is an organization in the United States that was founded in 1983 for promoting democracy in other countries by promoting political and economic institutions such as political groups, trade unions, ...

, a US-funded organization.

Founding and purpose

Boxun allows anyone to submit news to the website, which has resulted in a large number of articles remaining anonymous. Boxun was created by Meicun "Watson" Meng, who studied in the United States after working for two multinational companies in China. The Boxun servers are run from an office in North Carolina since 2000.

Critics

While the organization claims it is independently run and audited, critics – including German leftist magazine

konkret ''konkret'' has been the name of two German magazines. ''konkret'' was originally the name of a magazine established by Klaus Rainer Röhl in 1957, that was an influential magazine on the German political left in the 1960s. The magazine was d ...

– have suggested that it is simply a tool of U.S. foreign policy. Boxun.com is blocked in mainland China.

Defamation case

In 2012, Boxun falsely reported that actress

Zhang Ziyi Zhang Ziyi (; ; born 9 February 1979) is a Chinese actress and model. She is regarded as one of the Four Dan Actresses of China. Her first major role was in '' The Road Home'' (1999). She later gained international recognition for her role in ...

was paid $100 million to sleep with top Chinese officials. Zhang sued Boxun in a US court for defamation. In December 2013, Boxun settled the case after agreeing to pay an undisclosed amount to Zhang and issue a front-page apology.

References

{{reflist American news websites