BBC News quotes Maria Repnikova on state-media relations in China

Maria Repnikova, a DPhil student in Politics, was quoted in a BBC News article (14 May) on media investigations of official corruption in China.

The story covers the case of Liu Tienan, a top economic planning official, who is currently under investigation by authorities after a reporter, Luo Changping, accused the official and his family of corruption.

Maria noted that the decision of officials to pursue the allegations against Mr Liu, and to resist from cracking down too strongly against Mr Luo for exposing corruption, are in line with recent government efforts to prioritize curbing corruption. Investigations of senior officials are relatively rare, as more reports tend to focus on local officials. However, given the current top-down campaign against corruption, I think the report is less surprising, as it tunes in with the agenda of the party-state, she said.

The article can be read in full here.