W hile waiting to interview Liu Changle, something feels not quite right.
Phoenix Satellite TV, the only private network allowed to broadcast in China in Chinese, demonstrates its special status by having its Beijing offices in the Diaoyutai state guesthouse. But inside the villa that the company occupies in this heart of official Communist China, incense wafts through the high-ceilinged, dimly lit rooms, and there is a glimpse of a Buddhist statue.
Combining things that seem to contradict each other is what Mr Liu and the business he built are all about. The 60-year-old is a devout Buddhist and a Communist party member, a critic of Beijing’s censorship regime and a key supporter of the regime itself. “We understand their situation, and they probably also understand our situation,” he says about senior officials to explain how Phoenix navigates the political difficulties of this market. “They need Phoenix, and Phoenix also needs them.”