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Chinese academic’s disappearance sparks concerns among compatriots in Japan: ‘people are worried’
- Hu Shiyun, a professor of Chinese literature and linguistics in Japan, went to China last August on what was meant to be a short trip. He hasn’t been heard from since
- The 63-year-old is at least the third Chinese academic based in Japan to go missing after a brief visit to his homeland
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The disappearance of a Chinese academic based in Japan after a brief visit to his homeland has sparked fears among his peers at Japanese universities, with the incident marking the third such reported case of its kind in more than a decade.
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Hu Shiyun, 63, a professor of Chinese literature and linguistics at Kobe Gakuin University, told his employer last August that he would be making a short trip to China and return to Kobe before the start of the autumn semester classes.
The university on Monday confirmed it had heard nothing from Hu since he left, and that his family in Japan first expressed their concern in September. Kobe Gakuin has contacted the Chinese consul-general in Osaka but received no reply, the Yomiuri newspaper reported.
The cause of Hu’s disappearance remains unknown, amid speculation the Jiangsu native has been detained on unknown charges, it added.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said he had no information on the case when asked about it at a press conference this week.
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Maya Hamada, a professor of Chinese literature at Kobe University, told This Week in Asia: “People are very worried about Hu and what might happen to any of us when we go to China.”
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