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| Journalist Missing Ahead of Tiananmen Anniversary | Journalist Missing Ahead of Tiananmen Anniversary |
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| HONG KONG — Gao Yu, a prominent Chinese journalist who was imprisoned following the 1989 suppression of the student protests in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, is missing, with friends saying she may have been detained ahead of the 25th anniversary of the crackdown. | |
| Yao Jianfu, a retired party official and policy researcher in Beijing who is friends with Ms. Gao, said the journalist had been scheduled to attend a meeting on Saturday in Beijing to commemorate the People’s Daily editorial of April 26, 1989, that declared the student protests to be “turmoil” and magnified divisions about how the leadership should deal with the demonstrators occupying Tiananmen Square. The gathering of former officials and scholars was also to commemorate Chen Yizi, a former adviser to Zhao Ziyang, the Communist Party secretary who opposed the crackdown, Mr. Yao said. Mr. Chen, an important figure in the 1989 uprising, died in Los Angeles this month. | Yao Jianfu, a retired party official and policy researcher in Beijing who is friends with Ms. Gao, said the journalist had been scheduled to attend a meeting on Saturday in Beijing to commemorate the People’s Daily editorial of April 26, 1989, that declared the student protests to be “turmoil” and magnified divisions about how the leadership should deal with the demonstrators occupying Tiananmen Square. The gathering of former officials and scholars was also to commemorate Chen Yizi, a former adviser to Zhao Ziyang, the Communist Party secretary who opposed the crackdown, Mr. Yao said. Mr. Chen, an important figure in the 1989 uprising, died in Los Angeles this month. |
| “She’s been out of contact for three days,” Mr. Yao said in a telephone interview from Beijing. “She had said she’d go, but didn’t turn up, and then we couldn’t get in contact with her.” Her phone and her son’s went unanswered, he said. | “She’s been out of contact for three days,” Mr. Yao said in a telephone interview from Beijing. “She had said she’d go, but didn’t turn up, and then we couldn’t get in contact with her.” Her phone and her son’s went unanswered, he said. |
| Teng Biao, a lawyer and human rights activist, said on his Twitter account on Sunday that she had been missing for four days. The Chinese-language edition of the German news service Deutsche Welle, which published Ms. Gao’s columns, said in a statement that she last emailed on Wednesday and that the news service had not been able to reach her since. Ms. Gao, active on social media, last posted a message on Twitter on April 23. | Teng Biao, a lawyer and human rights activist, said on his Twitter account on Sunday that she had been missing for four days. The Chinese-language edition of the German news service Deutsche Welle, which published Ms. Gao’s columns, said in a statement that she last emailed on Wednesday and that the news service had not been able to reach her since. Ms. Gao, active on social media, last posted a message on Twitter on April 23. |
| Activists in China are often detained ahead of major anniversaries, and the quarter-century commemoration of the June 4 killings is the subject of intense focus by scholars and activists who aim to preserve memories of the event in the face of government efforts to ban discussion of the subject. That would suggest Ms. Gao’s disappearance may be among the first of many ahead of this year’s anniversary. | Activists in China are often detained ahead of major anniversaries, and the quarter-century commemoration of the June 4 killings is the subject of intense focus by scholars and activists who aim to preserve memories of the event in the face of government efforts to ban discussion of the subject. That would suggest Ms. Gao’s disappearance may be among the first of many ahead of this year’s anniversary. |
| Ms. Gao spent years in prison in China because of official outrage over her articles. In 1988, she wrote an article for the Hong Kong publication Mirror Monthly that the Beijing mayor labeled a blueprint for “turmoil and rebellion,” and she was detained for 14 months after the Tiananmen crackdown, according to a biography on the website of Unesco, which awarded her the Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize in 1997. She was later arrested and imprisoned from 1993 to 1999 on charges of leaking state secrets. She was released in 1999 on medical parole. While in prison, she also received the Courage in Journalism award in 1995 from the International Women’s Media Foundation. | Ms. Gao spent years in prison in China because of official outrage over her articles. In 1988, she wrote an article for the Hong Kong publication Mirror Monthly that the Beijing mayor labeled a blueprint for “turmoil and rebellion,” and she was detained for 14 months after the Tiananmen crackdown, according to a biography on the website of Unesco, which awarded her the Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize in 1997. She was later arrested and imprisoned from 1993 to 1999 on charges of leaking state secrets. She was released in 1999 on medical parole. While in prison, she also received the Courage in Journalism award in 1995 from the International Women’s Media Foundation. |
| Her columns for Deutsche Welle have often featured acerbic criticisms of the party leadership, including the general secretary, Xi Jinping, and they have also shared news and speculation about the political elite. | Her columns for Deutsche Welle have often featured acerbic criticisms of the party leadership, including the general secretary, Xi Jinping, and they have also shared news and speculation about the political elite. |
| Ms. Gao had been warned by the authorities not to speak to reporters ahead of the June 4 anniversary, Mr. Yao said in a telephone interview. | Ms. Gao had been warned by the authorities not to speak to reporters ahead of the June 4 anniversary, Mr. Yao said in a telephone interview. |
| Hundreds, if not thousands, of people died on June 3 and 4, 1989, as army troops moved into the Chinese capital to forcibly remove student demonstrators from the square. The bloody suppression of the demonstrations signaled the end of widespread movements within society and the government to push for political liberalization. | Hundreds, if not thousands, of people died on June 3 and 4, 1989, as army troops moved into the Chinese capital to forcibly remove student demonstrators from the square. The bloody suppression of the demonstrations signaled the end of widespread movements within society and the government to push for political liberalization. |
| Mr. Yao said Ms. Gao had been detained several times before. Mr. Yao said some of Ms. Gao’s friends had speculated that her outspoken commentaries and interviews with foreign reporters may have vexed the authorities at a delicate time. | Mr. Yao said Ms. Gao had been detained several times before. Mr. Yao said some of Ms. Gao’s friends had speculated that her outspoken commentaries and interviews with foreign reporters may have vexed the authorities at a delicate time. |
| “The authorities probably told her that she shouldn’t speak out before June 4, like they have told other people, such as Bao Tong and me,” said Mr. Yao, referring to a former aide to Mr. Zhao who was imprisoned following the 1989 crackdown. | “The authorities probably told her that she shouldn’t speak out before June 4, like they have told other people, such as Bao Tong and me,” said Mr. Yao, referring to a former aide to Mr. Zhao who was imprisoned following the 1989 crackdown. |