Li Zehua (original) (raw)

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Chinese journalist and YouTuber (born 1995)

Li Zehua
李泽华
Li in 2023
Born 1995 (age 28–29)Pingxiang, Jiangxi, China
Other names Kcriss Li
Education University of Rochester (MS)Communication University of China (BA)
Occupation(s) Host, YouTuber
Years active July 2013–April 2020
Television China Central Television
Chinese name
Chinese 李泽华
Traditional Chinese 李澤華
TranscriptionsStandard MandarinHanyu PinyinLǐ ZéhuáGanRomanizationLi3 Zet6 fa4 [li²¹³ t͡sʰɛʔ⁵ fa³⁵]

Li Zehua (Chinese: 李泽华, born 1995), commonly known as Kcriss Li, is a Chinese citizen journalist, YouTuber. Li was born in Pingxiang, Jiangxi.[1] After graduating from the Communication University of China, he joined China Central Television (CCTV) as a television presenter in 2016.[_citation needed_] He would later leave CCTV and become an independent journalist, documenting the early days of the coronavirus pandemic in Wuhan.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in China, he resigned from CCTV and found a way to get into Wuhan, hoping to trace disappeared journalist Chen Qiushi.[2] With the help of locals, he was able to get a car and find a place to stay.[3] In the following days, he used a vlog to report on the pandemic in Wuhan.[2] He disappeared on 26 February 2020,[4] presumed detained by officers from state security.[5][6][7][8] Parts of his chase with the Wuhan authorities was caught on video and uploaded to YouTube.[9] Li was supposedly taken to a police station, where he had fingerprints and blood samples taken, before being taken to an "interrogation room".[9] He was told he was "suspected of disturbing public order", but was told there would be no penalty.[9] Some reports stated that no one had heard from Li since his 26 February 2020 disappearance,[10][11] while others stated that he returned to the hotel on 28 February.[12]

On 22 April 2020, Li posted a video on YouTube, Twitter, and Weibo, and uploaded the English subtitle to YouTube in the following days. According to Li, he was escorted on 26 February to the police station and was under investigation for disrupting public order. Additionally, police detained and quarantined him, citing his visits to sensitive epidemic areas. Li's quarantine was at first in Wuhan, and later moved to his hometown. Li stated that he had been treated well by the police during the detention, and that he had been released on 28 March.[13] According to The Guardian, Li's neutral tone in the video was "very different from his previous videos".[14][15] Activist Ou Biaofeng stated the authorities may have told Li to make the brief statement.[16]

At the end of his April 22 post, he quoted the Book of Documents aphorism "the mind of man is restless, prone (to err); its affinity to what is right is small. Be discriminating, be uniform (in the pursuit of what is right), that you may sincerely hold fast the Mean." (人心惟危，道心惟微，惟精惟一，允執厥中。)[17] and gave his own interpretation in English:

The will of the people is unpredictable, the heart of Tao (the essence of cosmos) is fathomless. In order to make the will of the people consistent with the heart of Tao and reach the state of Unity of people and cosmos, only the way is concentrate all energy on cultivation of the good nature of the heart, do not act in extreme, do not change faith, do not be fickle, uphold the doctrine of the golden mean of Confucian orthodoxy.[13]

In January 2023, Li reappeared in the public light after nearly three years of silence to give an interview, during which he recounted the events leading to his arrest in February 2020 and restated his views on the lack of freedom for Chinese citizens and his disdain of the totalitarianism and tyranny of the Chinese Communist Party.[18]

In March 2023, Li was interviewed and stated that he had graduated from the University of Rochester and is working at an artificial intelligence lab.[19]

  1. ^ "厉害了我的萍乡，原来这么帅！这么酷！". sohu.com (in Chinese). 26 February 2018.
  2. ^ a b "逆行武汉 前央视主持人李泽华消失记". Radio Free Asia (in Chinese). 11 March 2020.
  3. ^ "Coronavirus and China's Missing Citizen Journalists". National Review. 19 March 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  4. ^ "'They're chasing me': the journalist who wouldn't stay quiet on Covid-19". The Guardian. 1 March 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  5. ^ "State Broadcaster-Turned-Citizen Journalist Incommunicado in Virus-Hit Wuhan". Radio Free Asia. 27 February 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  6. ^ "Opening the Door". China Media Project. 28 February 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  7. ^ "前央视主持人李泽华 武汉失踪的九零后". RFI (in Chinese). 28 February 2020.
  8. ^ "到底死了多少人？挖掘疫情真相的公民记者李泽华被失踪". VOA (in Chinese). 29 February 2020.
  9. ^ a b c "Journalist reappears two months after Wuhan chase". BBC News. 2020-04-23. Retrieved 2020-04-23.
  10. ^ "Chinese journalist Li Zehua missing in Wuhan since late February". cpj.org. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  11. ^ "Coronavirus and China's Missing Citizen Journalists". National Review. 19 March 2020. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  12. ^ "李澤華被抓後疑被軟禁在賓館 網民瘋傳其朗誦視頻聲援". Radio Free Asia (in Chinese). 28 February 2020.
  13. ^ a b Li, Zehua (22 April 2020). "我是李泽华Kcriss，这是2月26日至今关于我的一些情况。I'm Kcriss, here is something about me since February 26th". Youtube. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  14. ^ "Missing citizen journalist Li Zehua back online after 'quarantine'". South China Morning Post. 2020-04-23. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
  15. ^ "Missing Wuhan citizen journalist reappears after two months". The Guardian. 22 April 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  16. ^ "Northeast China Imposes Travel Restrictions Amid Surge in Virus Cases". Radio Free Asia. April 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  17. ^ "Counsels of the Great Yu - Book of Documents". Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  18. ^ Tang, Jane (24 January 2023). "INTERVIEW: 'We have been oppressed by unfreedom for a long time in China'". Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  19. ^ Hsu, Iris; Mahoney, Robert (March 9, 2023). "Chinese journalist held for reporting on Wuhan COVID outbreak wishes he'd done more".