Hu Xijin, editor of the Global Times, Beijing’s primary mouthpiece to the world, pretended on Friday that he wants greater government tolerance for free speech.

Hu called on local Chinese governments and organizations to show a little more latitude to those who disagree with them. And he proclaimed himself a courageous example here, noting with not-so-much humility that he had recently criticized a university in an online social media post. “But,” Hu continued, “[the university] didn’t use its influence to seek for my post to be scrapped. My post has had millions of views on several platforms.” Hu says that other government bodies could learn from the university’s experience.