Friday, 06 February 2026
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Journalists as well as generals have been purged – only Xi is safe in China today
Purges have defined Xi Jinping’s leadership from the start. Just before he came to power, he moved against his then biggest rival Bo Xilai. It was a scandal that rocked China, and indeed the world (Bo was linked to murdered British businessman Neil Heywood). Years later we still don’t know fully what happened to Heywood, Bo or his wife Gu Kailai – obfuscation being a key characteristic of the Chinese state – but the episode certainly set the stage. Once in power, Xi launched his so-called anti-corruption campaign, which sought to crackdown on “tigers” and “flies” – powerful leaders and lowly bureaucrats. Thousands of officials have since been jailed and millions more punished. And at the end of January, Xi took out two more “tigers” – top military brass Zhang Youxia, and an associate, Liu Zhenli. Both have been accused of “grave violations”.
There’s of course nothing wrong with stamping out corruption if and when it exists and if done with due process. It’s just that a genuine desire to rid the country of double-dealings rings hollow in Xi’s China, as Sunday’s arrests of two journalists remind us. On 1 February, Liu Hu and Wu Yingjiao were detained. Two days earlier they’d published an article on Hu’s public WeChat account alleging corruption by Sichuan’s county party secretary. The article is now offline. The pair have been accused of “making false accusations” and conducting “illegal business operations”.
This is not Liu’s first encounter with the Chinese authorities. A well-known investigative journalist, who cut his teeth in state media before turning online for his investigations, he was detained for nearly a year in 2013 after he finger-pointed at the former deputy mayor of Chongqing. Wu is younger, less high-profile, though he has been nominated for multiple journalism awards. They’re the kind of journalists that would be exalted in ordinary circumstances, except China is no ordinary place. It holds the global title of number one jailer of journalists of any country and goes big on publicising the cases of some to scare others. The repeated arrests of citizen journalist Zhang Zhan and the five-year sentencing of Sophia Huang Xueqin (a former Index award-winner) are two examples. Even a quirk – the fact that local TV in China is often full of stories exposing government corruption – serves a purpose. As the scholar Dan Chen outlined in the pages of Index
([link removed]*1odp7z*_up*MQ..*_ga*MTYxNjQ4NDgyMS4xNzcwMjg1OTYz*_ga_60R758KFDG*czE3NzAyODU5NjIkbzEkZzEkdDE3NzAyODU5NzAkajUyJGwwJGgxMTMzMTgwMTYw) , it’s a cunning way to entrench power.
Chen also said this: “Televised criticism of local officials contrasts with the taboo on criticism of central government officials, agencies and policies – a taboo that is enforced by brutal suppression.” It’s a useful yardstick when trying to make sense of what’s happening right now. Essentially Wu and Liu flew too close to the sun, and for totally different reasons so too did the military men. The best way to stay out of trouble in China is to not align with, or investigate, those at the top. Only Xi is safe. Everyone else is cannon fodder.
Jemimah Steinfeld
CEO, Index on Censorship
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** Free access: Gen Z is revolting
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Zoomers – young people born between 1997 and 2012 – took to the streets last summer. They haven’t got a common ideology but they are angry about the state of world and feel hopeless for the future.
Our latest magazine issue focuses on the stories of Gen Z. How they are angry and refuse to be silenced. For a limited time, you can read the issue for free.
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Police clash with protesters in Turin after squatters evicted
Demonstrators clashed with police this week in the Northern Italian city of Turin during protests in support of a squatted community centre that was shut down by authorities in December.
Two journalists from RAI TV were attacked by some of the masked protesters ([link removed]) while covering the demonstration, made up of an estimated 15,000 people. More than 100 people were injured and at least three arrested. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is calling for the Italian government to investigate the attacks thoroughly.
On 5 February ([link removed]) the right-wing Meloni government passed a decree providing police with new powers allowing them to detain suspected protesters before demonstrations can begin. Police can use the controversial law to temporarily hold troublemakers to prevent them from spreading unrest. Watch some videos from the demonstration against the eviction here ([link removed]) and here ([link removed]) .
Namibian police threaten journalist for asking President a question
Namibian president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah had senior journalist Jemima Beukes escorted out of a Cabinet meeting ([link removed]) on 2 February after Beukes asked a question despite being told by the president she could not.
Beukes is the founder of independent news website The Whistle ([link removed]) , which describes itself as “focused on public-interest journalism and political analysis in Namibia and Southern Africa”.
After being kicked out of the meeting, officers threatened Beukes with arrest before photographing her car. You can watch the video of the president defending her decision here ([link removed]) .
Venezuela releases detained journalist
The government of Venezuela has released 22 prisoners ([link removed]) including journalist Rory Branker ([link removed]) , reports Reuters.
Branker, a journalist for news website La Patilla ([link removed]) , was detained in February last year and faced up to 30 years in prison on charges including treason, with his family unable to locate him for over 200 days. This is not the first time La Patilla staff have been targeted, with journalist Ana Carolina Guaita ([link removed]) facing the same treatment in 2024.
The release is part of a programme announced by the interim government of Delcy Rodríguez. Human rights organisation Foro Penal says that 383 political prisoners have been freed ([link removed]) since 8 January 2026.
** Flashback
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Crown Confidential: The UK Royal Family’s obsession with secrecy is blurring history and making it hard for us to get the full picture ([link removed])
In 2023, Index on Censorship launched a campaign to end royal secrecy. Too many files that should be public still aren’t. We warned then about the cost of secrecy.
Today, amid new Andrew revelations in the latest release of Jeffrey Epstein files, we renew our call for transparency. Read more. ([link removed])
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Photo by: (People walk past images showing Chinese President Xi Jinping) Lou-Foto/Alamy; (Nabakyala Elizabeth mwana wa Windsor/ Commonstealthiness) Eria Nsubuga
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