Is this photo of a Chinese passport 'ruined by boy's drawing' a fake?
News reports claimed the father was stuck in South Korea because of his son's handiwork
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.This picture of a Chinese passport apparently defaced by a four-year-old boy has gone viral around the world, but is it a hoax?
According to reports in China, the boy used his unfortunate father’s passport as a colouring book during a family trip to South Korea.
The man’s face was given dark eyes and a large beard and drawings of animals and scribbles appeared all over the official document.
He was reportedly stuck in South Korea because officials would not accept the “unrecognisable” identification.
A picture was originally posted on Chinese social networking site Weibo by a person claiming to be the father, known as Chen, with a plea for help.
But the entertaining tale has been greeted with suspicion by some who say the “drawing” looks a lot like an adult’s handiwork on Photoshop or MS Paint.
Observers have pointed out that the thickness of the lines is unusually uniform and on the far right of the passport, a drawing seems to run off the passport onto the white space behind.
The lines do not seem to follow the curve of the document or have made any indentation, and the “ink” is not smudged anywhere on the glossy page.
It seems almost too convenient that the man’s name, signature, passport number and its code have been scribbled out while other details are unobscured.
Chinese media reported a warning from the Government for people to take good care of their passports with the story and some have speculated it could even be propaganda created by the Communist state.
Whatever the case is – it’s reminded us all to keep the pens away from the passport.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments