Voice of America: Correspondent detained in China

Voice of America said that one of the government-funded news service’s correspondents in China had been detained while trying to interview a retired Chinese professor being held by authorities in the country.

The outlet said Monday that Mandarin Service correspondent Yibing Feng, as well as VOA contractor and multimedia journalist Allen Ai, were taken into custody after interviewing the detained professor Sun Wenguang through the door of his apartment.

Chinese authorities repeatedly tried to stop the interview, and the journalists were taken into custody as they left the building, according to VOA.

{mosads}

VOA Director Amanda Bennett called for the journalists to be released immediately, calling it “outrageous that two journalists have been detained for nothing more than doing their jobs.”

Chinese police took the two journalists in separate cars after the interview.

Authorities asked Feng to hand over his equipment, to which he replied that it was U.S. “government property, you cannot take it,” according to VOA. 

Sun, 84, was taken into custody earlier this month and was recently permitted to return home with security.

The professor was taken by authorities earlier this month during a live television interview with VOA as he criticized Chinese foreign aid and diplomacy in Africa.