Hu was born in Beijing. After graduating with a master's degree in Russian literature from Beijing Foreign Studies University in 1989, Hu began his career as a journalist at the People's Daily. Hu took part in the 1989 Tiananmen Square Protests, and he calls the military action a tragedy caused by student naivety and government inexperience. He can speak Chinese, English and Russian.
Career
Working as a foreign correspondent for the paper, he covered both the Bosnian War and the Iraq War. After covering Yugoslavia's break-up as a war correspondent, he came to admire strong Communist rule. Hu became editor of the Global Times in 2005, editing both the Chinese-language version and, after its establishment in 2009, the English-language version. During Hu's time as editor of the Global Times, he has become known as a bellicose hard-liner. “Frisbee Hu,” a nickname for Hu Xijin, arose from a joke that he retrieves whatever the government throws at him. He has been accused of being a propagandist. In response to the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, he compared the protesters to "ISIS-like terrorists".
Accusations of "astroturfing"
According to Richard Burger, a former editor at the Global Times, in the wake of the arrest of Ai Weiwei, the Chinese staff of the Global Times were ordered by Hu to conduct an "astroturfing" campaign against Ai Weiwei in favour of the Chinese government's criticism of Ai as a "maverick".
During the 2019 Hong Kong Protests, Hu urged for direct shooting towards the protesters. He also advocated that the police should be waived from any responsibilities even if the protesters were fatally shot. Hu warned that China would bar drafters of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, whose U.S. Senate sponsor is Florida Republican Marco Rubio, from entering mainland China as well as Hong Kong and Macau after U.S. President Trump signed it into law in November 2019.
Urging China to increase nuclear weapons
On 9 May 2020, Hu Xijin published an article to urge China to increase nuclear weapons. In this article, Hu said that” China should increase its nuclear warheads to 1,000 in a relatively short time span, and to procure at least 100 DF-41 strategic missiles.” “Today, the US government has identified China as its largest strategic competitor, and Washington is more likely to exert all its power at its disposal to suppress and intimidate China. If the US government deems necessary, it is highly likely that it could even take similar risks that led to the Cuban missile crisis. ” “China needs to possess the real power to prevent the US politicians from gambling with its nuclear armament and harming China. ”
