Press freedom groups are expressing concern about Hong Kong journalist Minnie Chan. Japanese newspaper Kyodo News says Chan has been unreachable since visiting a security forum in Beijing in October.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on Monday it was “very concerned” by the news of Chan’s disappearance. In a statement, the international press freedom group called for “her whereabouts to be made known immediately and, if detained, for her immediate release.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists also expressed concern on Friday and urged Chinese authorities to “immediately reveal her location and ensure her safety.”
Remarkably, the newspaper for which Chang works, the South China Morning Post (SCMP), itself states that she has taken “personal leave” and that “her family has informed the newspaper that she is safe, but that she needs time to recover.” to deal with a private matter’.
“The safety of our journalists as they work is of the utmost importance to the South China Morning Post. This has always been our principle,” the statement said. The newspaper also added that she continued to communicate with Chan’s family and provided “all the necessary support they need.”
When asked about the Kyodo News report at a press briefing last week, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said he was “not aware of it.”
Chan is a highly regarded journalist in Hong Kong and among an international audience that follows Chinese news. She is known for her insightful and well-researched reporting on the Chinese military and its development. She has been with the SCMP since 2005. The newspaper is Hong Kong’s leading English-language newspaper and is owned by Hangzhou-based tech giant Alibaba.
The Hong Kong Journalists Association, a kind of union that fights for press freedom, says it is very concerned about Chan’s safety and is requesting more information from the SCMP. The association also calls on family members and friends to contact us.
Chan is not the first journalist to disappear from the radar in China. Concerns over her safety and whereabouts join a string of recent cases of journalists being detained in mainland China, where there have long been concerns about secretive trials and extrajudicial detentions.
In October, Australian TV presenter Cheng Lei was released by the Chinese government and returned to her family, more than three years after being detained on unclear espionage charges. Haze Fan, a Chinese who works for Bloomberg News and was also detained in 2020, was also released last year.
China ranks 179 out of 180 in the 2023 RSF World Press Freedom Index. The country detains at least 121 journalists and defenders of press freedom.
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