Under President Xi, China's once stalwart journalists have fallen in line. The Communist Party's propaganda arm has taken direct control of the agencies that manage newspapers, broadcasters and radio stations. A powerful new agency has silenced critical voices online, creating a vast censorship apparatus.
Investigative journalist Wang Zhi'an once exposed corruption, land confiscation and medical malpractice in China to millions of viewers and a very powerful platform: state broadcaster CCTV.
Wang now lives alone in central Tokyo after being blacklisted in his homeland. His journey from personality at the heart of China's state media to journalist living in exile illustrates how and why critical government-backed reporting has been curtailed under Xi Jinping, China's most authoritarian leader since Mao Zedong.
Unlike many researchers, Wang has not given up. Deep in debt and armed with little more than a laptop, tripod and camera borrowed from a friend, Wang is back to work – this time on YouTube and Twitter, both banned in China.
"Here I can tell the truth and no one can limit me anymore," said Wang, sitting in his studio in Tokyo, a modest living room.
Thousands of delegates are gathering in Beijing this week to reaffirm Xi as leader of the ruling Communist Party for a third term in the country's most important political meeting in a decade. Fearing arrest, Wang has said he will not return until Xi is out of power.
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"He demands absolute obedience," Wang said. "The media has become like the army: a tool that promises unconditional loyalty to the party."
Communist propaganda
Under Xi, China's once stalwart journalists have fallen in line. The Communist Party's propaganda arm has taken direct control of the agencies that manage newspapers, broadcasters and radio stations. A powerful new agency has silenced critical voices online, creating a vast censorship apparatus.
Privately, many Chinese journalists say Xi has quashed independent reporting. Publicly they are silent. Xi's own name is spoken carefully, in written lines, whispers or nicknames.
"The change in the last 10 years has been dramatic," said Zhan Jiang, retired professor of journalism at Beijing Foreign Studies University.
Wang never imagined life outside of China. A native of the mountainous Shaanxi province, he joined CCTV in 1998 after receiving a master's degree in history.
At the time, Chinese media was on the cusp of what Wang calls a "golden age." Investigative journalism flourished under then-leader Jiang Zemin, who spoke to Tibet and Taiwan with Western journalists, and Zhu Rongji, a tough, reform-minded premier who had fought corruption.
This fueled hopes for reform in China's one-party state – more like Singapore than the former Soviet Union, with a space for free discussion.
"Just because China is under the leadership of the Communist Party doesn't mean it can't have an active media," said Zhan, the retired professor.
Problems on television
At CCTV, Wang was first a producer, then a commentator, before switching to investigations in 2011.
There he developed a reputation as a tough and experienced journalist, two former CCTV employees said, although they added that his critical tendencies could make him difficult to work with. They declined to be named to speak candidly about Wang.
Soon after, Xi took power in 2012. At first, Wang looked forward to the new leadership. As the country's economy boomed, officials raked in millions in unscrupulous backdoor deals, their sons and daughters seen wearing Rolexes and racing Ferraris through Beijing's overpasses.
Xi promised to change all that, vowing to crack down on corruption. He visited a simple bun shop, portraying himself as a man of the people.
The blow came. Banquets were banned, red carpets were rolled out and thousands of officials were arrested.
But as Xi consolidated power, signs of trouble began to appear on CCTV. Controls tightened. One by one, the leading reporters came out.
Then, in 2016, Xi visited CCTV and other state media.
"Party media should be called a party", he declared, demanding loyalty to the Communist Party above all.
"We knew then that there would be shocking changes," Wang explained.
Although Xi was fighting corruption, instead of using transparency and the rule of law, he empowered a secret party body to arrest officials instead.
The final blow, he said, came when the research he had been working on for months fell apart.
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It was a showcase of Beijing's ambulance dispatch system. Through backdoor connections, Wang found, an official had set up a parallel network that sent patients to a second-rate clinic in far north Beijing, generating revenue for the hospital's management but causing threatening delays for life.
But days before Wang's story aired, the party's Central Propaganda Department said it was keeping the story under wraps. Angered, Wang stopped coming to work, then resigned.
It wasn't just CCTV. Across China, thousands of journalists left the industry.
At Caixin, the respected financial magazine, the politically connected editor-in-chief stepped down. At the Beijing Daily News, a tabloid with a rebellious streak, the publisher resigned and was later arrested.
Online work
Wang tried to continue. He switched media, hosting an online interview show that garnered tens of millions of views. But in June 2019, Wang's social media accounts were suddenly deleted, depriving him of millions of followers.
Overnight, Wang was politically toxic. His young point guard, once eager to capitalize on his star power, backed out of his contract renewal.
For several years, Wang pondered what to do. The pandemic left him stranded during a visit to Japan, and when he returned to Beijing late last year, he heard he would no longer be able to work in the media. If he wanted to stay in China, he would have to leave the job he loved.
Wang made his choice: He bought a one-way ticket to Japan.
"I can't continue in China," Wang said. "If I were to become director of public relations, it would be a betrayal of my career."
Now, Wang is teaching himself Japanese. He has learned how to edit video himself and operate on a limited budget.
Since it began broadcasting in May, it has attracted a large following, with nearly half a million followers on Twitter and 400 subscribers on YouTube. Although both are banned in China, Wang hopes his reports will get over the Great Firewall of China and into the country.
Its goal, Wang has said, is fact-based news for mainland Chinese, one that stands far apart from competitors charged with conspiracy fueled by hatred of the Government.
"No one believes that a serious Chinese branch can be established overseas," he said. "But I want to try it. I think it is very important for the whole Chinese-speaking world."
In July, he spent hundreds of thousands of dollars hiring a team and flying to Ukraine. Wang said he wanted to bring frontline reporting to Chinese audiences — noting that only one channel watchable on mainland China sent reporters to the war.
The result, he said, was that China's coverage of the war was saturated with Russian disinformation.
"Such a big country with only one source of information for such a big event," Wang said. "This is very sad."
Wang has many opponents. Nationalists have branded him a "traitor" online, questioning why he lives in Japan and accusing him of selling "anti-China" content. At the other extreme, anti-Beijing activists question Wang's motives, pointing out that he spent decades inside state media toeing the party line.
Zhang Dongshuo, a lawyer in Beijing, has said he appreciates Wang's channel, tuning in from time to time to get news unavailable on state media. But Zhang added that Wang's lack of access has made his reports more tenuous.
"It will be difficult," Zhang said. "It is in an unpleasant situation."
Outside of Xi's China, however, Wang hopes there is room for someone like him. He narrates all over the news, talking about China's "zero-COVID" policy and the recent party congress, filled with observations based on his experience while inside the system. Sometimes, it doesn't even give much feedback.
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"We will have to wait until the day when journalists can truly express themselves freely," Wang said, signing off on a recent broadcast. "I hope that day comes soon."
Translated by: Blerta Haxhiu
