Worked at the paper for 18 years, good. But it’s owned by Alibaba Holdings in China, bad. The paper claims they’re in the contact with family and have confirmed she’s safe and taking time for personal issues, good. But her friends, colleagues, and Hong Kong Journalists Association remain concerned for her safety, bad.
I don’t know anything about all the elements at play here but it certainly sounds suspicious.
Why are they in contact with the family and not with the reporter directly? It’s not like we are 1823 and communication has to be sent on precious missives traversing dangerous seas.
Theoretically, should an emergency occur, I may contact one close acquaintance, like a family member, and ask that they notify anyone else who needs to know, like work, so that I don’t have to provide updates through multiple channels all the time. Or I don’t feel like answering questions about something private to someone, like my boss, who has no business with the details.
That part doesn’t strike me as suspicious, but the persisting concern from friends and colleagues (as well as the potential unreliability of the paper’s representatives) does.
It says she previously worked at the Apple Daily… wasn’t that an “”“extremist”“” paper linked to the detention of that one lady for screaming at an apple in public?
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Friends and colleagues of a Hong Kong journalist have raised concerns after she failed to return from a defence and security forum in Beijing a month ago.
The Guardian understands colleagues at the South China Morning Post have also made inquiries to their editors about her whereabouts.
“The safety of our journalists in the course of their professional work is of the utmost importance to the South China Morning Post.
She previously worked at the Apple Daily, which was forced to close after a Hong Kong government crackdown, and the Chinese Phoenix Satellite TV station.
The South China Morning Post is owned by the Chinese company Alibaba Holdings.
It is the largest English-language newspaper in Hong Kong, which still allows greater press freedom than in mainland China.
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