Washington, D.C. - Voice of America Mandarin Service Beijing Correspondent Yibing Feng and Ai Lun, a Chinese video production specialist working as Mr. Feng’s cameraman and assistant, have been released by Chinese authorities following hours of detention and interrogation. Feng and Ai were dragged into separate vehicles outside the apartment building where retired professor Sun Wenguang, a critic of Chinese government, lived in eastern China’s Shandong Province.
“While we’re glad our reporters have been set free, it is outrageous that they were detained in the first place -- simply for doing their jobs,” says VOA Director Amanda Bennett.
Monday night's actions by Chinese officials follow the events of two weeks ago when Professor Sun was interrupted and subsequently detained by Chinese authorities during a live telephone interview on a VOA Chinese-language TV program broadcast from Washington.
Yibing Feng, a U.S. citizen and a staff reporter at VOA Mandarin Service since 1999, has reported from Beijing since 2015.
