Missing Chinese Journalist Held in Hubei Province
Created: Dec 18 2008
Related articles: China
CHAN:
We now have word on the whereabouts of missing Chinese journalist Guan Jian.
He disappeared 15 days ago while investigating corruption in the city of Taiyuan in Shanxi province. Provincial officials have now publicly stated that Guan is in police custody in neighboring Hubei Province.
Guan Jian had been probing financial links between local communist officials and a real estate company accused of illegal land use.
While working on this story for the Wangluo Bao newspaper, Guan vanished on December 1st, losing all contact with colleagues and family. Guan’s son was later able to track down video footage of his father being seized from a hotel lobby by a group of five men…and thrown into a car.
Local authorities have now claimed that Guan was arrested on suspicion of taking bribes.
It is common for journalists in China to take bribes—but that also means it's easy for police to fabricate bribery charges to stop a reporter from digging too deeply into a story.
So far, authorities have not given any more details about the alleged bribes…or what connection they might have to Guan’s investigation of their own financial dealings.
