Justin Sun’s public standing in China has taken another hit over the past week, with his latest responses to critics extending a controversy that Protos says is already damaging his reputation.
In its report, Protos said Sun’s newest remarks included an offer to livestream a formal measurement of his height so people would stop calling him short. He also entered into a public argument over what the word "decency" means.
The dispute began with a long post about Jing Tian
Protos said the first major turning point came about a week earlier, when Sun posted a lengthy message on X that he described as both a work of fiction and as close to the truth as he could recall.
In that account, Sun referred to Chinese actress Jing Tian and claimed that she was going to donate her eggs to a surrogate so that she and Sun could have a baby. He also alleged that when she asked for more money to proceed, he refused and filed a lawsuit to claw back gifts he had already given her.
According to Protos, the decision to share highly personal details about his relationship with Jing did not produce the response Sun appeared to expect. Mainland Chinese users reacted negatively, and many viewed the disclosure as intentionally harmful to Jing and to her career.
Protos wrote that if Sun had deleted the post and apologized at that stage, the matter might have faded. Instead, he kept going.
Criticism widened, but Sun continued speaking publicly
After drawing condemnation across China, Sun defended his choice to make the story public. Protos said the criticism came not only from online users but also from other crypto billionaires and from journalist Hu Xijin, whom the outlet described as the "Troll King of China."
The report added that Sun later took part in an interview with a Chinese media outlet. Even while saying the courts should deal with the issue, he continued to discuss it in public. Protos argued that doing so risked causing serious damage to Jing Tian’s career.
A public clash with Hu Xijin pushed the story further
Protos said picking a fight with Hu was a mistake from the start. The situation escalated after Hu made an offhand comment about "having a chat in Beijing," which Protos interpreted as implying that Sun might not dare return to the country where he was born.
Sun then posted another long response on X and argued with Hu over the meaning of "decency." In Sun’s framing, older generations such as Hu’s see decency as swallowing pride and following a strict moral code, while younger generations such as his own treat decency as contractual and tied to speaking out when they feel wronged.
Protos said that response came across as tone-deaf and disrespectful toward Hu, and said it had little chance of finding an audience in China.
The height livestream proposal added a final twist
In another post, Sun said that because Chinese social media users kept calling him short, he would be willing to do a livestream in which a metrology institute measures his height down to the millimeter.
Protos treated the suggestion with sarcasm, writing that tall people do not usually feel the need to prove their height through a livestreamed measurement.
The report ended by saying Chinese social media platforms now appear to be removing Sun’s name from trending topics and pushing the drama out of the center of public attention, following what it described as several days of unusual behavior.