Disappearance of Chinese Diplomatic Staffer Arouses Suspicions

A well-regarded diplomatic worker has been missing for over a month and is reported to have been tortured in detention, while friends appeal on his behalf.
Disappearance of Chinese Diplomatic Staffer Arouses Suspicions
12/20/2012
Updated:
10/1/2015
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The mysterious disappearance of a Chinese diplomatic official has been made public via the Internet. The Chinese Foreign Ministry is believed to be misinforming the public by stating that the man never worked there. Proving that once again, news is tightly controlled in China, the web post that disclosed these facts was subsequently deleted.

But like Orwell’s “memory hole”, photos have been found that prove the current “unperson” really did exist.

Recently, a netizen styled “Spreading benevolent thoughts” exposed the disappearance and apparent detention of Foreign Ministry staffer Chen Youbang on Sina Weibo. “Chen, who works for the Beijing Ministry of Foreign Affairs is an honest and kind person. He is continually acclaimed to be a good worker and is highly regarded by his colleagues. He is kind, enthusiastic and willing to help people and he is considered by his local community as a good husband and father,” the post said.

It continued: “However, such a person mysteriously disappeared on November 10 and, without providing a reason, the entire Ministry of Foreign Affairs lied and denied Chen worked there.” The details were posted in the hope that this news may be spread widely by concerned netizens to save Chen. 

The post had been deleted by Dec. 19; furthermore, the respective Weibo account has also been blocked. 

Chen worked in the Archive Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to a captioned photo from a 2004 news report from the official website of Chishou city (Beijing office) . Chen is also a translator with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, performing diplomatic translation and translating documents for publications such as “International Economic Review,” according to a Dec. 19 report by Secret China online. 

Zhang Lifan, a well-known historian in China, has found out that Chen published an article titled “Zhou Enlai at beginning of breaking the ice for China’s foreign affairs” in the 2005, 6th edition of “Memories and Archives.”  

Netizen “Zha Liangjun” from Yunnan commented that: “A Ministry employee has disappeared and it may be due to his knowing secrets that are not supposed to be known”. 

However, the respective departments told the Secret China reporter that they “do not understand the situation,” and promptly hung up the telephone.

According to a Dec. 7 report on Minghui, a Falun Gong website, Mr. Chen was taken away on Nov. 10. He was being detained in the Chaoyang District Detention Centre in Beijing. He was taken to a hospital for emergency treatment as a result of torture in the detention center, according to Minghui’s reportage. Chen is also a practitioner of Falun Gong, a persecuted spiritual practice in China. 

According to another report on Dec. 3 on Minghui ’s Chinese edition, friends and family of Chen exposed that the the Public Security Bureau has blocked all news about Chen, not allowing Chen’s family to visit him or receive any news about his health. Chen’s family are very worried and Chen’s mother, who has a broken leg, is anxious about her son’s return.  

Netizen “Armand_CAO,” who claimed himself to be a friend of Chen and worked at the consulting company Martec Group (Shanghai), replied: “If I’m not a relative, why do I look for him all the time? I hope you, as a human being, would be able to understand the heart of a man who wants to find his friend, and hope that we would view this world from a perspective of law and justice.”

Ye Wentian, Chief Editor of China Economist, responded to the incident on his Sina microblog, according to Secret China, “We cannot make a person disappear from the earth without going through legal methods, simply because of a person’s religious beliefs, unless it is not a society of human beings any more.” 

Ye’s post continued: “Had it been your family member who disappeared, you would definitely go to rescue him too.” This post had also been deleted from Sina by Dec. 19.

Read original Chinese article.

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