A second Chinese-born US citizen has been detained in mainland China, it emerged yesterday.
The US consulate in Hong Kong confirmed that a US national, understood to be a Hong Kong-based professor missing for a month, was being held by the Chinese authorities.
Last month another academic, Ms Gao Zhan, was arrested as she prepared to leave China after a holiday. Her husband and five-year-old son, also detained, were released on March 8th.
The US consulate in Hong Kong would not confirm yesterday who was being detained but said an official had visited the person.
A spokeswoman said the US embassy in Beijing had been in frequent contact with the family and had been working on this case since late February.
Earlier this month Hong Kong's City University said an associate professor and pro-democracy sympathiser, Mr Li Shaomin, had been missing since late February. He gained US citizenship in the 1980s. His wife lodged a missing person report on February 26th.
The other detained academic's husband, Mr Xue Donghua, was sworn in as a US citizen yesterday to help the family press the case for her return from Beijing. She is accused by China of spying.
Mr Xue and his wife are both green-card holders and permanent US citizens. They first applied for US citizenship in 1998 and had completed all the steps except the swearing-in ceremony.
Both detentions are set to increase tension between the US and China. Ms Gao's arrest was raised by President Bush last week during the Washington visit of the Chinese Vice-Premier, Mr Qian Qichen.
China has told the US to stay out of its affairs and repeated allegations that Ms Gao spied for foreign intelligence agencies. Washington and Ms Gao's husband have denied the claims.