Taipei, Taiwan – A reporter with Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post has gone missing in China after a work trip, a Japanese news outlet has reported, raising fears that she has been detained by Chinese authorities.
Minnie Chan, an award-winning reporter specialising in Chinese defence and diplomacy, travelled to Beijing to attend the Xiangshan Forum but became unreachable after the end of the three-day security conference on October 31, Kyodo News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The South China Morning Post, which is owned by Chinese tech giant Alibaba, did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment. Kyodo News reported that the Post said that Chan was on “personal leave” without elaborating further due to privacy concerns.
Chan has worked for the Post since 2005, according to the newspaper’s website. Her most recent article published on November 1 discussed China’s mediating role in the war in Gaza.
A Facebook friend of Chan told Al Jazeera that her WhatsApp account showed her as last online on the afternoon of November 2 and said her recent activity on Facebook was “very strange”.
Chan’s last Facebook post is dated November 11 and features holiday photos, in contrast to her usual posts featuring her latest articles and commentary written in Chinese. Chan has not responded to comments on her last post from friends asking about her whereabouts.
Article from www.aljazeera.com