Why was a US Yale graduate hounded out of his job promoting Chinese culture?

His supposedly sky-high salary and internship at a conservative think tank sparked online fury and rumours he was a US spy

In just two months, Yale graduate Edward Kuperman went from being praised by Chinese state media to being bombarded with accusations that he was a spy.

His interest in China started with a Chinese language class in junior high, as well as books and films about China, Xinhua said. At 17, he was an exchange student in Suzhou, Jiangsu province. After returning to the US, his parents hired a Chinese tutor for him, the article said.

Kuperman, who also goes by the Chinese name Gu Aihua – “Loving China” – started his first job as an intern live-streamer at the Dunhuang Culture International Communication Centre (DCICC) in April, the article said, adding that he believed the city was a “unique entryway to observing China, understanding China and telling China’s stories.”

On his life in Dunhuang, which for centuries was a stop along the Silk Road, Xinhua’s article is typically rosy. One anecdote describes how he spent 3 hours helping a Dutch tourist find their lost backpack. “Kuperman told the relieved tourist, ‘In China, nothing gets lost.’ The tourist nodded in agreement,” the article reads.

The DCICC’s Instagram account featured Kuperman in three videos in May and June, interviewing participants at the Third World Conference of Sinologists and introducing the city’s famous Crescent Lake.