Hu Xijin, Editor-in-Chief of Global Times, tells his very own stories of war-front interviewing in his talk show- HuKan (Hu's talk, also homonym for "nonsense talk").

Renowned for its straightforward and bold style, the show takes over a touching character in which Hu unveils his personal takes in his professional career.

Hu first introduced what war means to war reporters. As someone who needs to cover firsthand stories from a war zone, extreme environments and conditions are often encountered.

“The true face of war is different from what people commonly perceive”, says Hu.

Hu recalls the time interviewing Sarajevo under war, the situation required Hu to interview both Sarajevo and the other side of Mount Igman. Since intense conflicts persisted between the Muslims on both sides, Hu could not travel over the mountain directly.

“I had to detour 12 some miles!” Cries Hu. “To be able to reach the Muslims on the other side of the mountain, I had to detour Hungary, Croatia, southern Bosnia and Herzegovina!” Hu then mockingly describes his encounters with missiles, not once but twice, chances to become “toasted meat”.

“It was the loudest noise I’ve ever heard in my life! The landing missile near my hotel at 3 am almost shook me off my bed!” Hu recollected.

Hu further adds that the obstacle in thriving the firsthand report is more than just environmental factors. During the eruption of the Iraq War, Hu and his colleagues were restricted to only interviewing at the News Centre, and could only go to designated locations. Only the U.S. journalists with War Correspondent Cards were allowed to travel with their own troops and to reach the war front.

“We had no chance to access the frontline. And if you think about it, it is safer to travel with the troop.” Says Hu. “U.S. correspondents got to sit in the armored tanks sent by the U.S. Army. They were way more efficient and protected comparing with the rest of us.” Hu eventually had to illegally approach the warfront with a crew of reporters from Japan and Russia just to do their job. As an experienced warfront reporter, Hu quickly sensed danger after dark, that the crew might be detected as a threat and thus attacked by all British, U.S., and Iraq armies. The crew soon decided to return under Hu’s suggestion.

After safely arriving the News Centre, the crew was left in awe to learn the deaths by bombing of the other crew who insisted marching the border. “If you let us to also travel with the troop, the deaths could have been avoided!” Hu recalls himself furiously confronting the spokesperson at News Centre.

The spokesperson shockingly suggested that none-U.S. reporters should not have minded the business between the U.S. and Iraq, while rudely adding: “You all came out of your own wills! It’s a war between us and Iraq! You Japanese man!”