Financial Times profiles Internet activist Wu Gan, aka “The Butcher”:
From his Beijing office, which he has dubbed “the Abattoir”, he spends most days scanning online newspaper and blog reports for hints of scandals, cover-ups and official misdeeds that he can investigate and expose to public scrutiny.
He is one of the most daring of a growing band of full-time, internet-savvy, Chinese social activists who are beginning to take their calls for justice and transparency from the virtual into the real world.
With his shaved head, goatee beard, burly frame and wide, disarming smile this former aviation sector official and entrepreneur resembles a warrior monk, an impression that is heightened by the Buddhist prayer beads he always carries with him.
His zealous defence of downtrodden citizens who take on the might of the Communist party has a religious tinge to it, as does his aura of impending martyrdom when discussing the government’s response to him and his fellow “netizen” activists.
Watch also a video report from FT.
