Nantong Daily has been esteemed by its readership throughout its more than 60 year history. Wang Guangxiang, a winner of multiple journalism awards, is known for investigative journalism with national repercussions. He felt strongly the obligation to defend the honor of his newspaper and himself. "I've run across these tabloid-type books before, but never thought anyone would have the audacity to jockey a serious report on anti-corruption efforts in an activity that is itself corrupt. But I take this not only as a copyright violation but also a personal insult," said Wang Guangxiang.

A Long Road of Defending Legitimate Rights

Wang is a senior reporter who had from time to time used his pen and position to help under-represented groups defend their legal rights. He was well aware what to do when his own were trampled upon. He bought a copy of the book, and kept the receipt.

He headed to Hong Kong after his Malaysian trip and paid a visit to the publishing house. In talks with its executive, he demanded the recall of the book, a public apology and financial reparations. All demands were rejected. The arrogant executive of Ha Fai Yi gave the implausible excuse that "Hong Kong's political system is different from that on the mainland. The principle of free speech here means a reporter from a small local newspaper has no right interfering in our company's selection of articles for its publications." All they offered was RMB 3,000 as a private settlement, which Wang immediately turned down. The company executive sneered, "I have never heard of a case of a mainland journalist filing a lawsuit with a Hong Kong court; but if you want to try your luck, we'll play the game with you," and he walked away.

Undaunted by the threats and the uncertainties down the road, Wang sued Ha Fai Yi in a Hong Kong court after getting the authorization of the two other co-authors of the Gu Chengbing report. Two prominent HK lawyers were hired for the case. As several years of investigation passed, he made six visits to the island, and collected extensive evidence of the book's sales abroad through friends and colleagues. More was learnt about the publisher during the period of evidence-gathering. Ha Fai Yi was founded by a group of self-styled democratic activists, and had produced a raft of books on political themes, including a series slandering the Chinese government by grafting articles from other media, or even fabricating stories.

"Why does a publisher distort someone's works without the writer's agreement, and do so in the name of democracy and freedom? Deeds tell a lot," said Wang.

Revenge Best Eaten Cold

On November 18, 2009 a district court in Hong Kong ruled Ha Fai Yi was to issue a formal apology on Apple Daily, pay Wang Guangxiang HK $145,000 in damages and to recall all existing copies of the contentious book by the end of the year.

On September 8, 2009 the first batch of 1,003 copies of Financial Crimes by Senior CPC Officials were destroyed under Wang's watchful eyes. Before that, Ha Fai Yi had openly admitted wrongdoing on the local newspaper.

A satisfied Wang nevertheless went on to reveal that the plagiary of his work by Hi Fai Yi is merely the tip of the iceberg. His global hunt for evidence to support his case uncovered that it was not rare for the company to pluck materials from mainland media reports and transplant them into disparate contexts for its "yellow journalism." The result is a body of sensational publications where manipulated facts and misleading messages demonize China. Wang hopes fellow journalists on the mainland follow his suit and take people to task for such outright breaches of the law.