The European Union has demanded a “right answer” from Chinese authorities over the arrest of a nearby worker at its Beijing project which has been held for eight months.
The EU Delegation in China staffer was detained by way of police in September 2021, the bloc showed in an emailed announcement.
“Despite multiple requests on our side to the Chinese authorities, we have so far not been informed neither of the allegation(s) nor of the specific charges,” EU spokeswoman Nabila Massrali said.
“We will continue enquiring until we get a proper answer.”
Maserati added the EU was “concerned for his well-being”.
French newspaper Le Monde originally reported an IT department employee identified as An Dong was arrested on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” — a vague charge often used to stifle dissent that carries a maximum of five years’ imprisonment.
The EU had sent three written communique to Chinese authorities demanding further information about his alleged offenses and that he be allowed access to a lawyer of his choice, the report stated.
The Chinese national is reportedly being held in southwestern Sichuan province — thousands of kilometers from Beijing.
The case is a rare example of an employee of a Western diplomatic mission being arrested in China.
Simon Cheng, a former local staffer at the British Consulate in Hong Kong, claimed he was tortured by Chinese police in 2019 after being detained for 15 days during a business trip to the mainland.
Former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig was jailed for almost three years in China on charges of espionage in apparent retaliation for Canada’s arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou over fraud charges.
Kovrig was freed in September 2021, along with another Canadian arrested at around the same time.
China-EU ties have deteriorated since the pandemic, with the 2 powers trading sanctions over a spread of rights issues.
The EU has accused China of financial coercion over an unofficial exchange embargo of Lithuania released shortly after the Baltic united states of America allowed Taiwan to open a consultant office.
More these days, the EU has warned China not to offer army or financial backing to Russia as it wages its bloody invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
