A missing Chinese photographer in Xinjiang, says his wife

Beijing: An award-winning Chinese photographer is missing and may have been arrested by state security agents while traveling to remote Xinjiang (western China). China), said his wife.

Lu Guang, three times worldwide The winner of the Press Photo Award was invited to take part in photographic events in the regional capital, Urumqi, at the end of October, announced his wife, Xu Xiaoli, in online articles.

She lost contact with her husband on November 3rd. He was traveling alone in the southern city of Kashgar and has not heard from him since, Xu said.
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She then contacted the wife of the person who had invited her husband to Xinjiang and had learned that the two men had been taken away by state security agents, Xu said.
The Xinjiang Regional Government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At a regular press briefing in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said he was not aware of the case.

"He went to Kashgar alone," Xu, who lives in New York, told Reuters on Tuesday. "Later, he and his friend were taken away."

Lu's award-winning work focuses on sensitive environmental and social issues in China, including industrial pollution, drug abuse and people with AIDS. [19659004] Activists, academics, foreign governments and UN rights experts protesting mbad detention and strict surveillance of the Uighur ethnic minority and other Xinjiang Muslim groups in Beijing,

The Chinese authorities systematically deny any ethnic or religious repression in Xinjiang. His measures are necessary to combat the influence of religious extremism.

Xu said that she had not received any official notification of Lu's detention and had not been able to contact the Xinjiang police.

"December 4 is our 20th wedding anniversary and was supposed to celebrate with us together," Xu said in an online message.

"Since I lost contact with him, the days have dragged on like years."