This is the Guardian.

Before we hear today's episode of Audio Long Read, we just want to recommend a brand new

Guardian podcast coming out this Saturday.

Called Weekend, the podcast will bring you some of the best Guardian writing from the week,

read by talented narrators.

Listen to celebrity interviews, lifestyle features and opinions from our most popular

columnists, including Marina Hyde and John Crase. Weekend is the perfect way to relax,

so search for it on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Welcome to the Guardian Long Read, showcasing the best long-form journalism covering culture,

politics and new thinking. For the text version of this and all our long-weeds, go to the

guardian.com for a slash long read.

China's troll king. How a tabloid editor became the voice of Chinese nationalism by Han

Zhang, read by Emily Wu'seller and produced by Hadi Moya. Shortly after this article

was published in December 2021, Hushijin announced that he will be stepping down as editor

in chief of the Global Times. He remains a commentator for the paper.

On November 2, the Chinese tenestar Peng Shui posted a long message on the social media

site Wei Bo, accusing China's former vice premier, Zhang Gaoli, of sexual assault.

As soon as the post went live, it became the highest profile me two case in China, and

one of the ruling Chinese Communist Party's largest public relations crises in recent history.

Within about 20 minutes, the post had been removed. All mentions of the post were then scrubbed

from the Chinese internet. No references to the story appeared in the Chinese media.

In the days that followed, Peng made no further statements and did not appear in public.

...