The Chinese regime arrested investigative journalist Liu Hu after the publication of a report that highlighted allegations of corruption involving local Chinese Communist Party officials in Sichuan province. According to the organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the arrest took place on February 1, a few days after the material was published on a public account on the WeChat platform.
In addition to Liu, journalist Wu Yingjiao was arrested by regime authorities. RSF reported that both were placed in police custody on charges of “making false accusations” and “illegal commercial operations”, terms that, according to the organization, are frequently used by Chinese authorities in cases involving sensitive reporting on corruption. The investigative content was removed from the WeChat platform shortly after publication.
According to RSF, the report published by Liu denounced abuses committed by Pu Fayou, secretary of the Communist Party in Pujiang County. The material contained allegations of conduct that allegedly led a university professor to suicide and caused financial losses to investment companies. The organization states that the arrest occurred after contact between the communist party’s disciplinary bodies and the journalist, requesting that any complaints be made only through official channels.
The entity classified the detention as yet another example of the tightening of repression against the independent press under Xi Jinping’s regime. According to RSF, state control over information in China has reached “almost totalitarian levels”, with independent journalists treated as a threat to the State.
According to RSF, Liu Hu is a veteran reporter known for revealing cases of corruption involving high-ranking figures in the Chinese party and regime. In 2013, he had already been detained for almost a year on similar charges as now. Wu Yingjiao, in turn, works as an investigative journalist and freelance photographer and had already been nominated for independent journalistic awards, according to the Chinese website Weiquanwang.
