Fang Ran: the haunting case of the Hong Kong labour rights researcher held in China
- The HKU doctoral student has long had an interest in social issues on the mainland and had attracted the attention of state security personnel
- He did not seem worried about being questioned, according to his friends. But then he was detained
Fang Ran was not alarmed when his belongings, including his phone, computer and ID card, were confiscated by state security agents in southern China in June.
The 26-year-old doctoral student at the University of Hong Kong was a Communist Party member and had often been “invited to tea”, a euphemism for informal questioning, by security personnel.
This time seemed no different, friend Abner said. The Nanning agents returned Fang’s identity card and he carried on with his research. In late August, the agents told Fang to return to Nanning to pick up his computer and phone, said Abner, who declined to give his real name.
Then everything changed.
His detention has sent a chill through the labour rights community in Hong Kong, with few willing to comment and many wondering how one student could be accused of trying to overturn the state.