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  1. #1
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    China's government news chief 'missing' in Britain

    I Thought these days were over. I just wonder what he's been up to.
    China's government news chief 'missing' in Britain

    The head of China's domestic news service has gone missing during a trip to Britain amid speculation he has defected.



    By Malcolm Moore in Shanghai
    Published: 10:20PM BST 27 Jul 2010


    Wan Wuyi, head of China's domestic news service


    Wan Wuyi, 58, disappeared after being sent to complete a training course at Oxford University.

    He had worked at the state news agency Xinhua for the past eight years, presiding over the domestic propaganda arm of the Communist Party.



    However, there has been mounting speculation that he has escaped to the UK, in what would be one of the most senior defections ever.
    He is said to have gone missing after telling colleagues he was suffering a bad back so would have to delay his flight home after finishing the training last month.
    Rumours on the Chinese internet suggested Mr Wan may have decided to flee after his reporting landed him on the wrong side of China's leaders. There were also claims he may have been under investigation for corruption. Mr Wan's wife is said to have already emigrated to the UK.
    An unnamed retired senior editor at Xinhua in Beijing told Mirrorbooks, a Chinese website operating out of New York, that Mr Wan had split from his colleagues during the visit.
    "He went to the UK with a delegation from the Organisation Department," said the source. "He complained he was suffering from a relapse of a back problem and that he could not walk. The delegation left him and he changed to a cheaper hotel.".
    The Organisation Department, which is responsible for appointing every Communist Party official, is thought to have been conducting a training course at Oxford University between May 22 and June 6.
    A spokesman for Xinhua refused to confirm or deny whether Mr Wan had defected.
    He said: "We do not know the situation clearly. You should keep an eye on the news."
    But a Chinese official based in Britain rejected suggestions Mr Wan had gone missing.
    "This is totally wrong. It is a rumour," said Hei Dalong, the Xinhua bureau chief in London. "Mr Wan is at my home. He has been ill for 50 days and the doctors say he is recovering but only slowly. He cannot travel at this time."
    However, another reporter close to the situation claimed Mr Wan had tried to flee China.
    Mr Wan is regarded as one of Xinhua's brightest stars, joining the agency after graduation in 1976 and being commended as an outstanding reporter in both Shaanxi and Hubei province.
    Xinhua, founded in 1931 as the Red China News Agency, now employs 10,000 people and is under the direct control of China's State Council. The agency handles news produced by the Publicity Department and has consequently been nicknamed the "eyes and tongue" of the Communist party.
    Xinhua reporters have been sacked for taking bribes in the past, notably in 2002 when two journalists accepted gold ingots to cover up coal mine accidents, according to China Youth Daily.
    The last major defection from China occurred in 2008, when Yang Xianghong, the 52-year-old deputy party chief of a district in Wenzhou went missing while on a business trip to France. Mr Yang was suspected of corruption and stripped of his party membership in his absence.
    In 2003, the vice-mayor of Wenzhou, Yang Xiuzhu, also fled to escape corruption charges and remains at large.
    Cases of corruption involving senior officials arrive on a monthly basis in China, with the latest seeing Chen Shaoji, the former top political adviser of Guangdong province, sentenced to death last Friday for taking nearly £3 million

  2. #2
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    Marmite the Dog's Avatar
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    Probably got used to proper Chinese food...

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Marmite the Dog View Post
    Probably got used to proper Chinese food...

    ... And "flied lice" jokes.

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