1. 12 Wednesday August 25, 2010 Wednesday August 25, 2010 13
INDEPTH
By Liang Ruoqiao
B
oth Wang Lao and Chen Hui
made their names as investi-
gative reporters at the age of
31. The difference lies in the fact that
Wang’s story was never published in
any newspaper.
In 1977, he shot down a rising
political star in Guangdong Prov-
ince with his pen. But instead of
being printed in his newspaper, the
Nanfang Daily, Wang’s report went
straight up the chain of China’s of-
ficial internal reference system.
Conversely, Chen’s 2003 story
about the beating death of a graphic
designer while in police custody hit
the front page of Southern Metropo-
lis Daily and within two months had
triggered the revocation of the Cus-
tody and Repatriation Regulation of
Urban Vagrants and Beggars (1982).
Although both are examples that
illustrate the role of Chinese journal-
ists in policy-making, neican, the
internal reference system remains
mysterious to outsiders.
Internal reference is a term refer-
ring to a system of communication
with a vertical flow of information.
It dates back to the days when the
Communist Party of China (CPC)
was founded. If by writing news
stories, journalists are acting as
the mouth of the Party, by writing
internal reports, they are the ears
and eyes.
The writers are mainly reporters
from the Xinhua News Agency, Peo-
ple’s Daily and newspapers under
different levels of the CPC commit-
tees, such as Wang. Ranging from
exposure of corruption to policy
advocacy, the subjects are sometimes
considered too “sensitive” for mass
publication and instead of being
printed as news stories they are sent
up the internal information chain,
sometimes to the highest seats of
power in Beijing.
Sitting at the top spot in terms of
influence, both Xinhua and People’s
Daily have a special department
devoted solely to internal reports.
Each year Xinhua gives out awards
to “advanced individuals for writing
internal reports.”
Shen Haixiong, 43, prides himself
on winning the award 12 years in a
row; the only person to do so within
the Xinhua system. The Shanghai
Bureau Chief of Xinhua wrote that
his secrets are “selfless therefore
fearless,” in an acceptance statement
of China’s most prestigious jour-
nalism honor, the Fan Changjiang
Journalism Award in 2002.
“Writing internal reports is the
duty and responsibility of Chinese
journalists,” said Wang. “Whenever
journalists see any unfairness or any
forces of darkness in action, they
should report it upward,” he said.
“The writing of internal reports and
news stories are of equal impor-
tance,” he continued. “(By writing in-
ternal reports) it shows the reporter’s
political sensitivity and understand-
ing of the existing policies.” After 38
years in journalism, Wang retired in
2008 as the deputy chief editor of
Yangcheng Evening News, a major
daily newspaper based in Guang-
zhou, Guangdong Province.
It also has its critics. “Internal ref-
erence system is a special phenom-
enon in China. It continues to play a
positive role in the current situation.
But it is not a channel for mass com-
munication. In essence, it controls
the flow of information,” Chen wrote
in an e-mail to the Global Times.
A reporter’s ‘duty’
The late-1970s was still a time of
building people’s communes (1958-
78). The communes had a collective
combination of political, economic
and administrative functions.
Bai Junfeng, about whose cor-
rupt commune practices Wang was
tipped off to, was the deputy Party
chief of Zhanjiang where Wang was
based.
At that time Wang already had
seven years experience when he was
transferred from Guangzhou to the
smaller city of Zhanjiang. A journal-
ism major from Renmin University
of China in Beijing, Wang said he
believed that a journalist should
“shoulder morality and justice” and
he was determined to becoming “a
journalist for the people.”
After meeting several whistle-
blowers and interviewing local
farmers and others who told Wang
that Bai had been faking commune
harvest statistics and raping women
who thought he would help unite
them with overseas relatives, Wang
filed an internal report with the Nan-
fang Daily’s supervising department,
the CPC Guangdong Provincial
Committee. The report was also cop-
ied to Xinhua News Agency and was
picked up by People’s Daily later.
After realizing the seriousness of
Wang’s report, the CPC Guangdong
Provincial Committee canceled an
appearance and speech by Bai at a
national conference in Beijing. The
judiciary process was initiated and
a special investigation group was
dispatched to Zhanjiang. Wang was
also invited to join the group.
The result of the investigation
confirmed Wang’s findings. Bai was
sentenced to five years in prison for
willful misconduct, rape and corrup-
tion.
While his story never saw print, it
certainly factored in Wang’s promo-
tion and transfer back to the paper’s
headquarters in 1979.
Looking back on his career as a
reporter, Wang thinks internal refer-
ence is essential for letting senior
leaders know about real situations in
local areas.
And it is still applicable today.
Wang said, “There is news that
is not fit for publishing in China.
It includes events that are still in
progress and events of grave politi-
cal sensitivity. The role of Chinese
journalists is different from that in
Western countries, we operate under
the leadership of the CPC.”
‘Nobody’s secretary’
Before Chen Hui headed to a new
position with Southern Metropolis
Daily from a CPC newspaper in
Henan Province in 2003, he knew
his status had changed. According to
an official document he read when
he was still “inside the system” he
was no longer authorized to write
internal references at his new paper.
“It (writing internal reports) is a
symbol of status for some report-
ers”, Chen said during a telephone
interview.
Nonetheless he excluded the
possibility even if he had been able
to. “I’m a journalist, I’m nobody’s
secretary.”
Philip Pan, Beijing bureau
chief of the Washington Post from
2001-07, described the story Chen
co-wrote as “impressive with vivid
description,” and written with “re-
served emotions” in his book Out of
Mao’s Shadow, the Struggle for the Soul
of a New China.
Chen’s story “The death of de-
tainee Sun Zhigang” told how Sun, a
27-year-old graphic designer, was de-
tained by Guangzhou police because
he couldn’t produce any identifica-
tion. Three days later, he died due to
heavy beatings.
Drawing his past journalistic
experience in Henan Province, Chen
was “used to judging news story by
the political risks of publishing it
rather than its news value” he wrote
in an article “Recalling the Memories
of the Sun Zhigang Event” in 2009.
Therefore, when he contacted
Sun’s sorrow-stricken brother and fa-
ther, he asked his superiors whether
to go ahead. In addition to getting
the green light, the editor on-duty
Yang Bing also urged Chen to write
and publish the story as quickly as
possible.
Sudden change
Six years later, Chen still re-
members the “revolting smell” and
“random shouts from the inmates”
when he visited the detention center
and clinic where Sun died.
Identified incorrectly as one of the
“three withouts” – a person with-
out identification papers, a normal
residence permit and a source of
income – Sun’s death was caused
due to an outdated regulation passed
in 1982, the Custody and Repatria-
tion Regulation.
Chen’s story was the first to
expose the tragic incident. However
Sun was not the first victim of the
old custody and repatriation system.
China Youth Daily based in Beijing,
had also written a similar story three
years ago.
“We didn’t write any internal
reference (about Sun), but I heard
that a reporter from Xinhua wrote an
internal reference on the story and it
played a crucial role – I can’t confirm
it, but it is quite likely,” said Chen.
“If the case of Sun Zhigang
wasn’t exposed by the media, the
repatriation system wouldn’t have
been abandoned,” Wu Heping,
spokesperson for the Ministry of
Public Security said during a talk
titled “Human rights protection in
China : some key cases” in mid-July
in Beijing.
Two months after the story was
published, the Guangdong People’s
Higher Court delivered final judg-
ment on Sun’s case: 18 people were
convicted, one sentenced to death
and six civil servants got jail terms
from two to three years because of
misconduct.
“I never thought the senior
leaders would be that quick and
decisive,” said a stunned Cheng
Yizhong, then editor-in-chief of
Southern Metropolis Daily when a
colleague handed him the Xinhua
announcement that the regula-
tion was abolished and that a new
one would take effect the next day.
Without knowing the outcome, the
editor-in-chief and the reporter had
sparked a dramatic media campaign
to influence policy-making on a
state level, “We ended the system of
detaining,” said Cheng.
It was a first for a Chinese news-
paper, observed Pan.
Further consequences
But less than one year after the
story was published, Cheng him-
self was arrested on suspicion of
committing economic crimes. “The
reason for the arrest was void on the
warrant, ” Cheng said.
Cheng was imprisoned without
trial for 160 days. The day he left
the prison, he was notified that “all
charges were dropped.” He is now
the editor-in-chief of a monthly
magazine in Beijing.
“If we had only written an
internal reference, things could
have been different for Cheng,” said
Chen.
Although Chen denied there is
any “direct linkage” between his
story and the abolition of the regula-
tion, Sun’s name was forever linked
to the policy change.
On Sun’s tombstone, the first line
is his birth date, July 26, 1976, but
his epitaph doesn’t end with his date
of death, March 20, 2003.
Instead, two lines below it says,
“April 25, 2003, Southern Metropolis
Daily published The death of the De-
tainee Sun Zhigang.” The text ends
with “August 1, 2003, Custody and
Repatriation Regulation of Urban
Vagrants and Beggars (1982) was put
to an end”.
Think tank
In practice, there is no contradic-
tion of writing both news stories
and internal reports to push things
forward.
For example, a news story appear-
ing on people.com in 2001 was the
first to expose a Nandan tin mine
accident which cost over 80 lives.
Subsequently these two Guangxi
bureau correspondents of People’s
Daily wrote internal reports and a se-
ries of over 150 stories published on
people.com and People’s Daily. As a
direct result of this media campaign,
Production Safety Law passed six
months later was strengthened.
“On the 100th day of the World
Expo in Shanghai, our reporters have
filed 101 reference reports,” said
Shen the veteran Xinhua reporter.
“We are like a think tank for the
government”.
The editor of In Depth welcomes
story ideas, comments or suggestions
for this page. E-mail: indepth@
globaltimes.com.cn
‘Not a cure-all’
Q: Global Times (GT)
A: Professor Zhan Jiang(Zhan),
Department of Journalism and
Communication, Beijing Foreign
Studies University
GT: What do you think is the
origin of the system of internal
reference?
Zhan: It is the product of a closed
and traditional society. Officials of
different levels receive either the
individual report or a collection of
them in publication depending on
their ranks, and the publications
have different levels of confidenti-
ality. This should not be confused
with a newspaper, which is a form
of mass communication, even
though it features some of the
same domestic or international
incidents.
GT: What is the present status of
internal reference system?
Zhan: This is still an important
source of information for senior
officials, especially if they are not
familiar with the Internet. But in
today’s China, where the mass
media is making rapid progress
combining information disclo-
sure and the transparency of the
government, the internal reference
system will be phased out by and
by.
GT: Who writes internal refer-
ences?
Zhan: Nominally they are report-
ers from official media organiza-
tions. They are reporters by profes-
sion, but in essence, they are like
special agents. There are times
internal reference writers receive
promotions and benefits from the
senior leadership because of their
work. There are also times when
the local publicity departments
try to cover up incidents and a re-
porter with a conscience discloses
it, hoping it will catch the attention
of someone such as Premier Wen
Jiabao to help find a solution.
By all means, this is not a cure-
all for a modern society. Solving
social issues should depend on a
free flow of information.
GT: What are the different views
on the system?
Zhan: There are reporters I know
of who would never pen a word
for internal reference, thinking it’s
work for special investigators.
On the other hand, there are
also supporters for the system
thinking that because of the limita-
tions of China’s actual conditions
that there are many social prob-
lems where the ends justify the
means. My take is on the middle
ground. I do not support reporters
doing this all the time. But in
certain situations and judging by
the results, it is effective.
 Internal reference system is news you’ll never see
Forwhoseeyesonly?
Left: Sun Zhigang’s father(right)
thanked the supporters outside the
Guangzhou Intermediate Court on
June 5, 2003.
Photo: Liang Yin
Above: Chen Hui.
Photo: Courtesy of Chen Hui