“Why do you ask, are you a spy or something?”

Rattling machine guns and the dying yells of Japanese soldiers blare from a TV behind the newsagent. Framed by the glaring lights of his booth on a busy Beijing street, he eyes me with a joking smile — but the beginnings of a frown — as I casually ask which papers sell well. The state secrets of this kiosk are closely guarded. Only when he’s satisfied that I’m merely curious does he rummage among the popular local morning and evening dailies, flipping out a tabloid sporting the loud red and yellow banner of the Global Times.

Read the article by Alex Colville: https://supchina.com/2020/10/12/hu-xijin-chinas-greatest-internet-troll/

Read by Lucas Niewenhuis.

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