China’s Independent Media One Wall, Two WorldsA security guard looks on as journalists cover a press conference in Beijing on March 7, 2025. China’s firewall system continually grows stronger, significantly raising the cost of using VPNs. Some independent media serve as platforms for news reporting and commentary, as well as for literature, art, and academia. The overreliance of Chinese audiences on social-media platforms has had a detrimental effect on the dissemination of independent media. Li Jun is a Chinese scholar with a background in both journalism and research, currently working on the Chinese-language, independent media initiative inVOC.