Reporter found after 15 days missing

After 15 days missing, the newspaper reporter has been found detained, alive, in Zhang Jiakou police office of Hebei province, CCVIC.com—the newspaper’s website—reported on Monday evening.

Guan Jian, in his fifties, an investigative reporter for China Internet Weekly, has not been seen since December 1, 2008, said Ren Pengyu, editor-in-chief of the weekly, which is governed by Chinese Academy of Science.

“Guan went to Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province, to report on land misuse by a local real estate company,” said Ren.

The website said Guan Jian was detained in a third province, neither Shanxi or Beijing, by the economic crime investigation department of local public security bureau.

Guan Yufei, son of the reporter, told China Daily he filed the police report on December 7 after futile search of his farther, and he was “shocked” to hear the update.

“Zhang Jiakou police refused to disclose further details about why and how long,” he said. “All they said was to bring some money and medicine for high blood pressure and heart problems.”

When asked if his father had such health issues, the son replied with a puzzled "No". He told China Daily he could not be completely relieved until his farther is released and the case is cleared.

Guan’s son said the family members, co-workers and Shanxi local police participated in attempts to find him.

“The local police obtained the surveillance tape from Taiyuan Jinjiang Inn and found five unidentified men dragged my farther into a Volkswagen Touareg and drove away around 6:00pm on December 1”, he said.

The Beijing News published four surveillance photos on its Monday newspaper.

The chief editor Ren said Guan was originally from Shanxi province and he had worked in Beijing for over two years.

“He wrote several reports previously relevant to the dark sides of social realities,” Ren said. He also said Guan has earned credit for in-depth critical reportage on social mores.

Ren said Taiyuan local authorities had been “helpful” and investigations still underway.