China: independent journalists Liu Hu and Wu Yingjiao arrested for reporting on corruption

Wu Yingjiao and Liu Hu, two independent journalists, weretaken into custody by local police on 1 February 2026 on charges of "making false accusations" and "illegal business operations. Their detention followed the publication of an investigative report they co-authored on the Chinese social media WeChat on 29 January 2026, which reportedly exposed the corruption of Pu Fayou, the Party Secretary for Pujiang County, located in the province of Sichuan. The article has since been deleted from WeChat.

After the investigation was published and before he was arrested, Liu Hu had posted to WeChat screenshots of messages he received from a staff member of the Chengdu City Discipline Inspection Commission and Supervisory Commission. In the messages, the official urged Liu twice to contact the commission and told the journalist that complaints should be filed through official channels rather than published in the media.

Wu Yingjiao is an investigative journalist and freelance photographer who has been shortlisted for numerous journalism awards, according to the independent Chinese news site Weiquanwang.Liu Hu is a former investigative reporter at New Express, who gained a reputation for revealing major cases about the corruption of officials. He was detained by Beijing police in 2013 on charges of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble"for allegedly "fabricating and spreading rumours," but was later released on bail after spending 364 days in detention. Liu was also selected as one of the "100 information heroes" by RSF in 2014.

Independent media under siege

Reporting has become a very dangerous profession in China as the crackdown on independent, reliable outlets has steadily tightened. Almost all official outlets are controlled by the state, forcing the country's journalists to turn to social media platforms such as WeChat to network, find sources and publish their work - despite severe state censorship and surveillance of these platforms. They often cover social and political issues by auto-publishing on public accounts, despite the high risk of having their articles deleted and their account suspended. These reporters frequently use pseudonyms and take precautions to avoid detection.

Since leader Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, China has been returning to a media environment reminiscent of the Mao era: independent journalism is criminalised and harshly punished. This systematic crackdown on the press is now being exported beyond China's borders through transnational repression, media buyouts and other insidious tactics as part of a deliberate strategy to silence criticism and promote Beijing's authoritarian model.

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.