Whistle-blower says he's amateur, yet he gets serious results(2)

Making it work

Also an opinion page editor at a Guangzhou-based media organization, Zhou is professional, according to Lei Hanshan, a Nanjing-based lawyer who provided sources to Zhou for three of the cases he worked on.

"He thoroughly looked into each piece of information I offered and asked me to review and provide legal expertise on his whistle-blowing articles," he told the Global Times.

Lei contacted Zhou after reading his article on the Sinopec scandal.

"His evidence-focused writings are to the point and powerful, and he knows how to protect a source," said Lei.

With a circle of expert contacts he calls upon for help with complicated legal and finance matters, Zhou's methods of exposing scandals have prompted widespread applause but also triggered controversies.

People who oppose of him and his work are mostly his targets, including RCSC's supervisory commission, which is currently in the middle of an alleged scandal exposed by Zhou.

Wang Yong, a member for RCSC's supervisory commission, is accused of having benefited from exchanges with RCSC, and operating a company disguised as a Hong Kong-based NGO to make a profit.

"Being critical is a good thing but that doesn't mean one should be irrational. Personally I think it's inevitable the commission has flaws, given it's only been established for less than six months. We're trying to make improvements. Criticism should be reasonable and constructive, while extreme accusations do not help with our work," said Wang to the Global Times when commenting on Zhou. He added that Zhou is known for making sensational headlines to draw attention.

Just a 'regular guy'

Despite spending huge amounts of time researching and collecting evidence, as a single 140-word Weibo posting can take hours or days to put together, whistle-blowing has not prevented Zhou from leading a normal life.

Doing what most people consider a risky thing - hunting down big names and people within government - Zhou said that his public image of a fearless, aggressive man does not suit his "real-life" character.

"I'm not bold. In fact I can be timid at times, and I have acrophobia," he told the Global Times.

Born in a small town in Zhejiang Province, Zhou said that he used to be shy, that is, until he came out of his shell in college, after meeting scholars and reading books that influenced him greatly.

Initially a physical geography major before turning to academic studies in history, Zhou attributes his investigative, logical and evidence-oriented mind-set to his education.

A big fan of Detective Conan, a well-known Japanese detective series, and detective novels in general, Zhou said that he also shares similarities with Super Man and Spider Man.

"We're somebody else when we put on a costume and fight evil, and we're nobody when we take it all off and return to our normal life," he said.

Zhou added that he imagines himself continuing his work as a whistle-blower for some time yet.

"I'll always look for the truth and value the facts," he said. "It's just the way I am, and I can't change that."