{"id":4621,"date":"2018-11-29T20:40:37","date_gmt":"2018-11-29T20:40:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iuhrdf.org\/en\/2018\/11\/29\/missing-photographer-likely-arrested-xinjiang-says-wife\/"},"modified":"2018-11-29T20:40:37","modified_gmt":"2018-11-29T20:40:37","slug":"missing-photographer-likely-arrested-xinjiang-says-wife","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/missing-photographer-likely-arrested-xinjiang-says-wife\/","title":{"rendered":"Missing photographer likely arrested in Xinjiang, says wife"},"content":{"rendered":"
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An award-winning Chinese photographer has been missing and his wife is apprehensive that he might have been arrested by state security officers while visiting China’s far-flung western Xinjiang region.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lu Guang, a three-time World Press Photo award winner, had been invited to take part in photography events in the regional capital, Urumqi, in late October, his wife, Xu Xiaoli, said in online posts.<\/span><\/p>\n

She lost touch with her husband on November 3 while he was travelling alone in the southern city of Kashgar, and has not heard from him since, Xu said.<\/span><\/p>\n

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She later contacted the wife of the person who had invited Lu to Xinjiang and was told both men had been taken away by state security officers, Xu said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Xinjiang regional government did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Reuters.<\/span><\/p>\n

Xu, however, said that her husband’s detention was confirmed to her by authorities in Lu’s hometown Yongkang in Zhejiang province. 

“I’m extremely worried, and hoping for his safe return home as soon as possible!” Xu posted on Twitter.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yongkang police told AFP news agency that they were unaware of the situation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Someone who picked up the phone at the police department in Kashgar hung up after hearing the call was from AFP.<\/span><\/p>\n

At a regular news briefing in Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said he was not aware of the case.<\/span><\/p>\n

“He went to Kashgar alone,” Xu, who lives in New York City, told Reuters on Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Later, it was both him and the friend who were taken away.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Talking to Al Jazeera, <\/span>Sophie Richardson of Human Rights Watch (HRW) said she has called on Chinese authorities “to immediately confirm and clarify… the whereabouts and well-being” of the photographer, who is a US green card holder.<\/span><\/p>\n

“That’s an obligation for them,” she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Richardson added that it is “not terribly credible” for Chinese authorities to not have any information about the status of Lu.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Yaqiu Wang \u738b\u4e9a\u79cb<\/span><\/span>@Yaqiu<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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