Editor of nationalistic Chinese newspaper says he was a target of blackmail and rumours by deputy
- Hu Xijin says accusations that he had extramarital relationships with colleagues were not only harmful to him but also his coworkers
- Global Times deputy editor shares screengrab of complaint to the Communist Party’s anti-corruption watchdog
Hu said the accusations levelled in online posts by Maggie Duan Jingtao, a deputy editor of the newspaper, that he had extramarital relationships with two female colleagues and that he was the father of two illegitimate children, were not true. A post on Duan’s personal WeChat showed screen captures of her complaint to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI).
“Because this does not only concern my reputation but also the integrity of two colleagues who have been innocently involved, as well as the reputation of Global Times, I have no choice but to make this clarification here,” Hu said in a statement issued late on Wednesday.
“[I] have had a meeting with the responsible colleagues of Global Times [today and we agreed] to ask the People’s Daily to issue an official conclusion [on this matter] but this may take some time,” he added referring to the Communist Party mouthpiece that controls the Global Times.
Neither Hu nor Duan responded to inquiries by the South China Morning Post.
Duan has shared screengrabs of a complaint to the Communist Party’s anti-corruption watchdog, the CCDI, in which she alleged that 60-year-old Hu violated the Communist Party’s disciplinary rules.