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CPJ calls for release of 2 Chinese journalists held after reporting on corruption

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CPJ calls for release of 2 Chinese journalists held after reporting on corruption

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New York, February 6, 2026—Chinese authorities must immediately release independent journalists Liu Hu and Wu Yingjiao, who were detained days after publishing a report accusing a local official of corruption, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Friday.

Liu, 50, and Wu, 34, were detained on February 1, news reports said. The following day police in the southwestern city of Chengdu said the journalists were under investigation on charges of “making false accusations” and running “illegal business operations,” according to a police notice reviewed by CPJ.

“China cannot claim to be serious about cracking down on corruption and at the same time target journalists who expose wrongdoing,” said CPJ’s Asia-Pacific Director Beh Lih Yi. “Chinese authorities must immediately release journalists Liu Hu and Wu Yingjiao, and stop censoring the press for their critical reporting. Their arrests are outrageous and retaliatory.”

On January 29, Liu and Wu published a report on social media app WeChat accusing an official in Sichuan province of corruption. The report has since been removed from the platform.

Liu also shared on WeChat several messages he received from an official, urging him to report the issue to authorities rather than publishing it on social media, according to a screenshot of the messages seen by CPJ.

Liu, a former journalist with the Guangzhou-based newspaper New Express, was detained for nearly a year in 2013 after he published a report accusing an official of wrongdoing.

China’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately reply to CPJ’s emailed request for comment. But when asked about the arrests at a news briefing, a ministry spokesperson said, “China is a country ruled by law, and Chinese judicial organs handle cases according to law; everyone is equal in face of the law.”

China consistently ranks as the world’s worst jailer of journalists, with at least 51 behind bars, CPJ data shows.

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