16:28 JST, April 23, 2024
Beijing, April 22 (Jiji Press) – A Chinese professor at Japan’s Asia University has been missing since he temporarily returned home last year, it was learned on Monday.
Japanese Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told a news conference in Tokyo that the government is aware of the case involving Fan Yuntao, the missing professor.
Chinese authorities may have arrested the 61-year-old Fan, people familiar with the matter said.
“The professor has been teaching at our country’s university for a long time, and we are closely monitoring this case as it could be related to human rights,” Hayashi said. He declined to comment further.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a news conference that he was not aware of the case.
According to the university, Fan temporarily returned to China in February last year and was expected to return to Japan in April that year when a new semester began.
Asia University said in a statement that Fan is “currently on leave” and that it “sincerely hopes” he will return to work and “take necessary action if necessary.”
Among similar cases, Chinese professor Hu Shiyun of Japan’s Kobe Gakuin University went missing in March after temporarily returning to China.
Under Chinese President Xi Jinping’s government, which emphasizes national security, China implemented a revised anti-espionage law in July last year in a bid to intensify its surveillance of foreigners and Chinese nationals with ties abroad.
