INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS
Circle 19 has selected and translated into English the following impactful Chinese investigative reports. These reports are undeniable evidence demonstrating that independent journalism by journalists in the People’s Republic of China has benefitted Chinese society throughout history. They also enable readers from all around the world to discover impactful pieces of Chinese investigative journalism and pay tribute to the work of Chinese journalists.
Categories: Environment Public health Social justice Corruption and crime
1979: The article that exposed the corruption of local officials in China
The article that exposed the corruption of local officials in China
2003: The article that shut down China’s 800 infamous migrant detention facilities
The article that shut down China’s 800 infamous migrant detention facilities
2003: The early days of SARS outbreak in China
The early days of SARS outbreak in China
2005: The news article that led to the strengthening of safer medical practices in Chinese hospitals
The news article that led to the strengthening of safer medical practices in Chinese hospitals
2007: The article that startled China’s environmental consciousness
The article that startled China’s environmental consciousness
2008: The article that showed how corruption contributed to the 2008 Sichuan earthquake’s terrible death count
The article that showed how corruption contributed to the 2008 Sichuan earthquake’s terrible death count
2008: The news article that led to the strengthening of Chinese food safety standards
The news article that led to the strengthening of Chinese food safety standards
2009: When state-run agency Xinhua was also doing investigative journalism
When state-run agency Xinhua was also doing investigative journalism…
2010: Years before #MeToo, a Chinese daily helped bring down a CEO’s predatory empire
In 2010, years before China’s #MeToo movement reached its full stride, Southern Metropolis Daily published the first investigation on sexual assault in the workplace in China. The piece discusses the case of Sunmoon Group, one of China’s largest cram school chains spanning over 300 locations across China and abroad, and its CEO Song Shanmu, who had…
2011: Corrupt official exposed following railway disaster
In 2011, on the heels of a train crash that killed 40 people and stoked the public’s ire, Caixin revealed large-scale corruption in the building of the country’s high-speed rail system. The long story exposed the “broken system” in the Railways Ministry and in a subsequent issue, put the railways minister Zhang Shuguang on its…
2011: The “Wukan protests” — how a little village stood up to corrupt officials
The article is covering the protests that first broke out in Wukan, a village in China’s Guangdong province. In 2011, this was the most detailed article covering the protests at the time. The protests were sparked by local officials’ illegal sale of collectively-owned village land, leading to widespread anger among the villagers.
2016: A vaccine scandal that shook China’s health system
While on probation, Pang conspired with her daughter to trade 260,000 of non-refrigerated vaccines to 18 provinces, and made 570 million RMB (75 million EUR) from the trade. The vaccines were feared ineffective due to the improper transport and storage, though unlikely to cause toxic reactions.
2017: How China Youth Daily exposed a massive mortgage scam that targeted China’s elderly
A fraud scheme tricked dozens of elderly out of their housing in Beijing from 2015 to 2017.
2020: How a Wuhan doctor brought China to realise the seriousness of the Covid-19 epidemic
This story by Renwu Magazine sets out how Ai Fen became the first whistleblower. Ai Fen is a doctor at the Central Hospital of Wuhan. In December 2019, she was one of the first doctors to encounter patients infected with the virus that would become known as COVID-19. On 30 December, she received a diagnostic…
2020: In the aftermath of the Covid-19 outbreak, China News Weekly revealed how authorities failed to contain the virus
The cover story of China News Weekly put together a detailed timeline for the month leading up to 23 January 2020, the day that the city of Wuhan closed down. The story presented the local government’s response and what officials from the local and national Center for Disease Control and Prevention did in those critical…
2020: The report that shed light on Chinese delivery drivers’ appalling working conditions
Since there are no trade unions, Chinese delivery workers cannot fight against the time allotted by the platform’s algorithms, and have to resort to dangerous practices to ensure on-time delivery, which causes traffic accidents, some fatal.
2023: “White Paper protests” — How extreme Covid-19 measures led Chinese youth to the streets
This story is about a group of friends in China experiencing the stringent lockdowns and restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The oppressive measures, including enforced citywide quarantines and mass testing, have led to feelings of frustration and despair, provoking the white paper revolution. Central to the narrative are personal stories of friends Yan Liu, a…
Copyright statement: All copyrights of the investigative reports collected and translated by Circle 19 belong to the original authors, who may request the withdrawal of their work at any time. As most of these pieces have already been censored in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Circle 19 is largely promoting them without the convenience of contacting their authors. This is a not-for-profit website: no remuneration is received, directly or indirectly, from the website viewers.