NGO concerned about South China Morning Post reporter Minnie Chan, 3 years after apparent disappearance

Free expression NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has expressed concern over the apparent disappearance of South China Morning Post (SCMP) reporter Minnie Chan close to three years ago.

Chan reported on defence issues, but was last heard from in October 2023 while she was covering the Xiangshan Forum, a three-day security conference, in Beijing.

The French NGO said that there has been no news of the whereabouts of the award-winning reporter since: “Various RSF sources in China also believe Minnie Chan is being held by the Chinese regime under charges which they say have not been publicly disclosed but appear to be national-security-related, and that she is facing at least 10 years in prison. RSF could not verify this information or find clear evidence of her detention,” they said in a Tuesday press release.

Aleksandra Bielakowska, advocacy manager at RSF’s Asia-Pacific office, said that Chan’s “whereabouts must be made public, and the international community must do everything in its power to secure the release of this talented journalist, who does not belong in a Chinese prison.”

When asked about Chan in 2023, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said: “I’m not aware of that [situation].”

SCMP silent

RSF said it approached the SCMP “requesting information about Chan’s current employment status, confirmation of her detention and the nature of any charges, as well as information about what support is being provided to the journalist in the event she is detained. At the time of publication, the SCMP had not replied.”

SCMP did not respond to HKFP’s enquiries on Tuesday. It threatened legal action over HKFP’s initial coverage of Chan’s apparent disappearance, without disputing the reporting.

At the time, the paper said the safety of journalists was of utmost importance and that it had no further information to disclose.

According to RSF, China is the “world’s largest prison for journalists,” with over 100 currently behind bars.

Chinese Bloomberg journalist Haze Fan disappeared in 2020 in China but was released on bail in 2022. Cheng Lei, an Australian journalist, was held in China in 2020 and released in 2023. In 2015, Hong Kong bookseller Gui Minhai disappeared in Thailand before being imprisoned in China.

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