Yu is widely respected for his role in operating the successful and groundbreaking Chinese newspaper Southern Metropolis Daily since its early days in the late 1990s and, it seems, just as widely seen as having been made the main object of official anger at reports his commercially highly successful newspaper published over 2003 on stories from initial SARS cover-up in Guangzhou to the brutal police murder of a student in the same city, a death which provoked outraged across the country and led to significant legal reform.
Yu es ampliamente respetado por su papel a operar el exitoso y vanguardista diario chino Southern Metropolis Daily desde sus inicios a finales de los 90 y, parece, como se ha visto ya, que ha sido convertido en el principal objetivo de la ira oficial por los reportes que su diario con mucho éxito comercial publicara como las historias del 2003 de la cobertura inicial del SARS Guangzhou hasta el brutal asesinato policial de un estudiante en la misma ciudad, una muerte que provocó un escándalo en todo el país y llevó a una significativa reforma legal.