A senior military official in charge of the mainland's satellite and strategic missile radio network has died in his office amid conflicting accounts of the circumstances.
Zhang Shengli, 52, chief of the National Radio Administration Bureau, died in his office on Tuesday afternoon after an 'accident', mainland media reported. But a Hong Kong-based human rights group said he had committed suicide.
The website of financial magazine Caijing published a story yesterday saying Zhang had died while 'falling down steps after having lunch at a staff canteen'.
Quoting an unnamed official from the bureau's supervisor, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the report said Zhang might have been mentally exhausted because of a long illness. The official also said Zhang had not exhibited any unusual behaviour and that his death was accidental.
'Judicial authorities are investigating the cause of his death, and the conclusions will be released and announced quickly,' the report quoted the official as saying.
But according to the Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, Zhang killed himself in his office with an overdose of sleeping pills. Quoting unnamed sources, the centre said that 'Zhang was found dead and pills were found near his body'.
'Because of his involvement in China's military radio administration and huge access to confidential information, his death generated major anxiety among the authorities and his body was stored in a secret place only known by several bureau deputy chiefs,' the centre said.
