The founding editor of one of China's most respected publications has resigned — the latest twist in a battle for control of a magazine known for daring reporting despite the state's grip on the media.
The departure of Hu Shuli (胡舒立) from Caijing (財經) magazine comes a month after general manager Daphne Wu Chuanhui (吳傳暉) and 60 to 70 staff stepped down, and amid intense speculation that Hu was battling management efforts to silence her team.
“Hu Shuli has submitted her resignation letter,” the magazine's spokeswoman Heidi Zhang (張立暉) said, adding that while the resignation was effective immediately, the transition period could last as long as one month.
“The SEEC [Stock Exchange Executive Council] has accepted it and would like to express its gratitude for Shuli's contribution,” Zhang said.
Zhang said yesterday that Hu, in her mid-50s, had told her she had accepted a position as head of the School of Communication and Design at Sun Yat-sen University, based in Guangzhou.
The SEEC, which owns and publishes Caijing, is a state-supported consortium of non-bank financial institutions.
Widespread reports have said the SEEC was trying to wrest power away from Hu, who is widely credited with making Caijing perhaps China's most influential publication since its launch.
In a country where the media is tightly controlled by the ruling Communist Party, Caijing has pushed the limits, crossing the relatively safe lines of business journalism to publish exposes on corruption and health scares.
One Caijing staff member said last month it was common knowledge at the magazine that Hu had been fighting off SEEC pressure to soften its reporting, especially after deadly ethnic unrest in Xinjiang in July.
The staffer said the SEEC wanted Hu’s editorial team “to focus more on finance and the economy, and leave politics more on the side. That is not what [Hu] wants.”
Nicholas Bequelin, a researcher for Human Rights Watch, agreed that Caijing’s reporting on the violence in Xinjiang was a turning point.
“One of the red lines that Caijing crossed was coverage of the Xinjiang riots — they had reporters sent back,” Bequelin said.
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