Who is Dong Yuyu, the rare independent voice in China’s state media, jailed for nearly four years

Dong Yifu recalls that the last time he saw his father, Dong Yuyu, in person was in 2021, and the last time he saw him at all - via video call - was on 21 February 2022, the morning of the day Dong Yuyu was detainedafter meeting with a Japanese diplomat. "We are deeply worried about his health," his son told RSF, citing his father's advanced age - 63 years old - and lack of nutrition in jail. In November 2024, Beijing's No. 2 Intermediate People's Court sentencedDong to seven years in prison on trumped-up charges of espionage.

According to his son, Dong Yuyu is driven by a deep sense of justice and a belief in a better future for Chinese society. He spent 35 years working for the tightly controlled state-run newspaper Guangming Daily, yet managed to consistently report on human rights issues and abuses of power. In 1998, he co-edited the book "Political China," a compilation of essays by Chinese intellectuals advocating for political reform. Although the book quickly sold out, it was soon banned and never reprinted. "He always believed journalism could bring positive change," his son explained. "Even when large-scale reform seemed out of reach, he focused on everyday injustices, holding power to account and defending ordinary people."

Severe conditions, violated rights

His first six months behind bars in 2021 were spent under "residential surveillance in a designated location," a system notorious for coercive interrogations and extreme isolation. He then spent over three years in a detention centre, where sunlight was scarce. After his appeal was rejected in November 2025, he was transferred to prison.

The authorities also withheld copies of his indictment and judgments - which he is entitled to under Chinese law - for three months, possibly in an effort to prevent further petitions on his case. They only gave Don Yuyu the documents after repeated requests from his family. Both of the journalist's parents passed away while he was in detention; he was not allowed to call them before they died.

Reporting under authoritarian rule

Dong Yuyu began working at Guangming Daily in 1987, after completing his law degrees, according to his son. Despite working for a state outlet, he became known for his independent voice. In 1989, after participating in the Tiananmen Square protests, he was punished with a year of hard labour in a factory, but he returned to journalism as a columnist and opinion writer covering politics, economics and social issues.

In addition to working for Guangming Daily, Dong Yuyu freelanced for other publications, says his son, who explained that much of his reporting appeared under pen names. When writing under his own name - including for the Chinese-language website of The New York Timesand the reformist historical magazine Yanhuang Chunqiu- Dong Yuyu addressed high-level political issues and called for reflection on historical injustices such as the Cultural Revolution. "He faced censorship and was threatened with demotion in 2017 for testing political 'red lines,' yet he never retreated from his principles," Dong Yifu added.

"He was incredibly hardworking - writing mornings, evenings, weekends and holidays for as long as I can remember. While many journalists moved on to other careers, he persisted even as the environment worsened. For the last ten years of his career, he produced an article almost every day," said Dong Yifu. Between 2011 and 2022, he contributed nearly 2,000 articles to a daily column covering corruption, government accountability, rights violations and discrimination against rural communities.

"An independent voice like my father's is extremely rare in China's state-run media, where most journalists are Communist Party members," emphasised Dong Yifu. "He was non-partisan and always sought truth and justice for the Chinese people and the nation."

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has been waging a crusade against journalism since he took power in 2012, as revealed in the RSF report The Great Leap Backwards of Journalism in China, which details Beijing's efforts to control news and the media both within and outside its borders. China is the world's biggest jailer of journalists, with 123 currently detained, and ranks 178th out of 180 countries and territories in the 2025 RSF World Press Freedom Index.