Did China make yet another high-profile individual 'disappear'? Top economist Zhu Hengpeng, who was the deputy director of a state-run think tank, has reportedly been detained after private comments he made in the WeChat app on the Chinese economy under Xi Jinping, and has not been seen in public for several months now, according to multiple reports.

The government advisor who was with the Institute of Economics at the state-run Chinese Academy of Social Sciences or Cass was investigated for his alleged criticism of Xi's management of the Chinese economy, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Watch: Top Chinese Economist Missing After Remarks On Xi Jinping: Report

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'He was "placed under investigation, detained and removed from his posts," WSJ reported citing people familiar with the matter.

Now, he has disappeared from public view after after being disciplined. Zhu, 55, made some remarks about the state of the Chinese economy, and possibly about Xi.

He was detained, and put under investigation and has not been seen in public since then.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/no-bad-men-in-xis-rule-decoding-the-mystery-of-chinas-disappearing-ministers-639747">Also read:&nbsp;No 'bad men' in Xi's rule? Decoding the mystery of China's disappearing ministers</a> 
 
Zhu is a veteran at Cass, having worked there for over 20 years. He was the deputy director of the Institute of Economics and director of the Public Policy Research Center.&nbsp;

His last public appearance in April was at an event organised by Chinese media outlet Caixin, according to the reports.

The development comes amid media reports that the Institute of Economics was seeing a leadership shake-up, with its director and secretary also removed along with Zhu.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/china-detains-two-prominent-businessmen-one-of-them-is-missing-656302">Also read:&nbsp;China detains two prominent businessmen, one of them is missing</a> 
 
Sing Tao Daily reported that Zhu is no longer listed on the Cass website. It appears to be part of a larger scrub, as sites on his work at Tsinghua University have also disappeared, The Guardian newspaper reported.

Cass, while it reports to the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council, has often provided frank opinion and analysis. But under Xi, questioning the Chinese economic policies, or the president himself, are fraught with risks.

China monitors and obstructs comments made on the government on all web platforms, including, it appears, private chats.

While it is not clear what Zhu wrote on the private WeChat group, Sing Tao Daily said it was about “improperly discussed central policies”, while WSJ said he referred to Xi's mortality.

The reports of Zhu's disappearance came around the time the Chinese Central Bank launched a massive stimulus package, including interest rate cuts, to help the ailing economy, which is likely to miss even the modest five per cent GDP growth target this year.

(With inputs from agencies)

Did China make yet another high-profile individual 'disappear'? Top economist Zhu Hengpeng, who was the deputy director of a state-run think tank, has reportedly been detained after private comments he made in the WeChat app on the Chinese economy under Xi Jinping, and has not been seen in public for several months now, according to multiple reports.

Did China make yet another high-profile individual 'disappear'? Top economist Zhu Hengpeng, who was the deputy director of a state-run think tank, has reportedly been detained after private comments he made in the WeChat app on the Chinese economy under Xi Jinping, and has not been seen in public for several months now, according to multiple reports. The government advisor who was with the Institute of Economics at the state-run Chinese Academy of Social Sciences or Cass was investigated for his alleged criticism of Xi's management of the Chinese economy, the Wall Street Journal reported. Watch: Top Chinese Economist Missing After Remarks On Xi Jinping: Report × 'He was "placed under investigation, detained and removed from his posts," WSJ reported citing people familiar with the matter. Now, he has disappeared from public view after after being disciplined. Zhu, 55, made some remarks about the state of the Chinese economy, and possibly about Xi. He was detained, and put under investigation and has not been seen in public since then. Also read: No 'bad men' in Xi's rule? Decoding the mystery of China's disappearing ministers Zhu is a veteran at Cass, having worked there for over 20 years. He was the deputy director of the Institute of Economics and director of the Public Policy Research Center. His last public appearance in April was at an event organised by Chinese media outlet Caixin, according to the reports. The development comes amid media reports that the Institute of Economics was seeing a leadership shake-up, with its director and secretary also removed along with Zhu. Also read: China detains two prominent businessmen, one of them is missing Sing Tao Daily reported that Zhu is no longer listed on the Cass website. It appears to be part of a larger scrub, as sites on his work at Tsinghua University have also disappeared, The Guardian newspaper reported. Cass, while it reports to the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council, has often provided frank opinion and analysis. But under Xi, questioning the Chinese economic policies, or the president himself, are fraught with risks. China monitors and obstructs comments made on the government on all web platforms, including, it appears, private chats. While it is not clear what Zhu wrote on the private WeChat group, Sing Tao Daily said it was about “improperly discussed central policies”, while WSJ said he referred to Xi's mortality. The reports of Zhu's disappearance came around the time the Chinese Central Bank launched a massive stimulus package, including interest rate cuts, to help the ailing economy, which is likely to miss even the modest five per cent GDP growth target this year. (With inputs from agencies)

Top Chinese economist 'disappears' after detention for criticising Xi Jinping's policies: Reports

A heavy soup made of pulled noodles, meat, and vegetables symbolises Central Asia’s close cultural and/or ethnic ties with China’s repressed Turkic and Hui Muslims. It also explains growing Central Asian unease with China’s re-education campaign in its north-western province of Xinjiang and its signature infrastructure and energy driven-Belt and Road initiative.

Named Ashlan Fu and introduced to Kyrgyzstan in the late 19th century by Dungans, exiled Chinese Hui Muslims who fled over the Tien Shan Mountains after a failed rebellion in 1877, the soup has become a staple of Kyrgyz cuisine.

Made of Laghman noodles, starch preserves, onion, garlic, chilli, dark vinegar, and egg, Ashlan Fu is “the best cure for a hangover,” says Aman Janserkeev, a Kyrgyz student.

It’s also indicative of the potential fallout of China’s crackdown on Turkic and increasingly Hui Muslims that amounts to the most frontal assault on Islam in post-World War Two history and of commercial terms underlying Belt and Road-related Chinese investments in Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia.

Some 150 members of Kyrgyzstan’s far-right Kyrk Choro (Forty Nights) group last month protested outside the Chinese embassy in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek against the inclusion of ethnic Kyrgyz in the up to one million Muslims detained in re-education camps in Xinjiang as part of the Chinese crackdown.

In a sign of the times, Kyrk Choro, a nationalist group that has gained popularity and is believed to have the support of the Kyrgyz ministries of interior and labour, migration and youth, and the National Security Committee (GKNB), focused in its protest exclusively on ethnic Kyrgyz in Chinese detention.

Acting as vigilantes, Kyrk Choro four years ago raided clubs in Bishkek in a campaign against prostitution and accused Chinese nationals of promoting vice. In a video of an attack on a karaoke club, a Kyrk Choro leader showed a receipt that featured a girl as one of the consumed items.

Yet, while standing up for the rights of ethnic Kyrgyz, Kyrk Choro has also called for Uighurs, the Turkic Muslims that populate Xinjiang, to be booted out of Bishkek’s most popular clothing bazaar and replaced by ethnic Kyrgyz.

During December’s protest, Kyrk Choro also demanded the expulsion of illegal Chinese migrants. It further insisted that the government check the documents of migrants, including those who had obtained Kyrgyz citizenship over the last decade, including 268 Chinese nationals who are in majority of Kyrgyz descent.

Kyrk Choro’s contradictory demands and claims reflect not only a global trend towards ethnic and religious nationalism with undertones of xenophobia but also concern that Belt and Road-related projects serve Chinese rather than Kyrgyz and Central Asian interests.

The Kyrgyz government recently reported that 35,215 Chinese citizens had arrived in the country in 2018, many of them as construction workers on Chinese-funded projects.

Political scientist Colleen Wood noted that social media activists were linking criticism of Chinese commercial practices with China’s crackdown in Xinjiang.

“One widely-shared image, which declares “Don’t let anyone take your land,” depicts a strong fist — adorned with a Kyrgyz flag — stopping a spindly hand — marked by a Chinese flag — from snatching factories and a field,” Wood wrote in The Diplomat.

Wood said some activists compared Chinese practice to the demarcation in 2002 of the Chinese-Kyrgyz border during which the Central Asian nation handed over 1,250 square kilometres of land to China.

Another Facebook page posted articles about Chinese mining companies operating in Kyrgyzstan, a target of Kyrgyz protesters, alongside articles depicting the intrusiveness of the crackdown in Xinjiang, according to Wood.

Ashlan Fu, the popular Dungan soup, could prove to be a litmus test of the depth of mounting anti-Chinese sentiment. &nbsp;

An Instagram account with a Stop China feed publishes xenophobic content about Chinese culinary habits as well as regular updates on the crackdown that is expanding into the autonomous region of Ningxia Hui.

Ningxia Hui recently signed a cooperation agreement on anti-terrorism with Xinjiang in a bid to learn from the crackdown on the Turkic Muslims or in the words of the Global Times, a Communist Party organ, “to learn from Xinjiang's experiences in promoting social stability.”

In advance of another protest at the Chinese embassy in Bishkek scheduled for January 17, Kyrgyz first deputy prime minister Kubatbek Boronov called this week on the public not to believe anti-Chinese postings on social media.

In an acknowledgement of Kyrk Choro’s appeal, Boronov asserted that the group had denied participating in the December protest.

The government, much like Turkey and the vast majority of Muslim countries, has so far evaded taking China to task on its crackdown for fear of jeopardising its relations with the People’s Republic.

Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov insisted last month that “the ethnic Kyrgyz of China are citizens of China, who obey the laws of their country. How can we intervene in their domestic matters? We can’t.”

If Kazakhstan, where the issue of ethnic Kazakhs detained in China has flared up, is anything to go by, the Kyrgyz government is walking a tightrope.

Asyla Alymkulova, &nbsp;a Kyrgyz national recently established the Committee to Protect the Kyrgyz People in China after her husband, Shairbek Doolotkhan, a Chinese-born Muslim, vanished in October on a business trip to Xinjiang.

Doolotkhan’s company subsequently advised Alymkulova that her husband had been "sent away to study" in a camp.

A Kyrgyz diplomat was among representatives of 12 non-Western countries whom China in the last week invited to Xinjiang to counter criticism of the crackdown and showcase economic and social progress. A group of foreign journalists was invited separately.

Short of a reunion with her husband, there is little that is likely to convince Alymkulova or the relatives of thousands of other Central Asians, including at least 2,500 Kazakhs, that Chinese policy towards Muslims is benign and benefitting the community and the region’s progress.

That, in turn, will not make things easier for the Kyrgyz and other Muslim governments at a time that ethnic and cultural identities in a nationalistic and at times xenophobic environment are becoming prevalent. Kyrgyz attitudes towards Ashlan Fu may be the barometer.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL) 
&nbsp;

A heavy soup made of pulled noodles, meat, and vegetables symbolises Central Asia’s close cultural and/or ethnic ties with China’s repressed Turkic and Hui Muslims.

A heavy soup made of pulled noodles, meat, and vegetables symbolises Central Asia’s close cultural and/or ethnic ties with China’s repressed Turkic and Hui Muslims. It also explains growing Central Asian unease with China’s re-education campaign in its north-western province of Xinjiang and its signature infrastructure and energy driven-Belt and Road initiative. Named Ashlan Fu and introduced to Kyrgyzstan in the late 19th century by Dungans, exiled Chinese Hui Muslims who fled over the Tien Shan Mountains after a failed rebellion in 1877, the soup has become a staple of Kyrgyz cuisine. Made of Laghman noodles, starch preserves, onion, garlic, chilli, dark vinegar, and egg, Ashlan Fu is “the best cure for a hangover,” says Aman Janserkeev, a Kyrgyz student. It’s also indicative of the potential fallout of China’s crackdown on Turkic and increasingly Hui Muslims that amounts to the most frontal assault on Islam in post-World War Two history and of commercial terms underlying Belt and Road-related Chinese investments in Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia. Some 150 members of Kyrgyzstan’s far-right Kyrk Choro (Forty Nights) group last month protested outside the Chinese embassy in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek against the inclusion of ethnic Kyrgyz in the up to one million Muslims detained in re-education camps in Xinjiang as part of the Chinese crackdown. In a sign of the times, Kyrk Choro, a nationalist group that has gained popularity and is believed to have the support of the Kyrgyz ministries of interior and labour, migration and youth, and the National Security Committee (GKNB), focused in its protest exclusively on ethnic Kyrgyz in Chinese detention. Acting as vigilantes, Kyrk Choro four years ago raided clubs in Bishkek in a campaign against prostitution and accused Chinese nationals of promoting vice. In a video of an attack on a karaoke club, a Kyrk Choro leader showed a receipt that featured a girl as one of the consumed items. Yet, while standing up for the rights of ethnic Kyrgyz, Kyrk Choro has also called for Uighurs, the Turkic Muslims that populate Xinjiang, to be booted out of Bishkek’s most popular clothing bazaar and replaced by ethnic Kyrgyz. During December’s protest, Kyrk Choro also demanded the expulsion of illegal Chinese migrants. It further insisted that the government check the documents of migrants, including those who had obtained Kyrgyz citizenship over the last decade, including 268 Chinese nationals who are in majority of Kyrgyz descent. Kyrk Choro’s contradictory demands and claims reflect not only a global trend towards ethnic and religious nationalism with undertones of xenophobia but also concern that Belt and Road-related projects serve Chinese rather than Kyrgyz and Central Asian interests. The Kyrgyz government recently reported that 35,215 Chinese citizens had arrived in the country in 2018, many of them as construction workers on Chinese-funded projects. Political scientist Colleen Wood noted that social media activists were linking criticism of Chinese commercial practices with China’s crackdown in Xinjiang. “One widely-shared image, which declares “Don’t let anyone take your land,” depicts a strong fist — adorned with a Kyrgyz flag — stopping a spindly hand — marked by a Chinese flag — from snatching factories and a field,” Wood wrote in The Diplomat. Wood said some activists compared Chinese practice to the demarcation in 2002 of the Chinese-Kyrgyz border during which the Central Asian nation handed over 1,250 square kilometres of land to China. Another Facebook page posted articles about Chinese mining companies operating in Kyrgyzstan, a target of Kyrgyz protesters, alongside articles depicting the intrusiveness of the crackdown in Xinjiang, according to Wood. Ashlan Fu, the popular Dungan soup, could prove to be a litmus test of the depth of mounting anti-Chinese sentiment. An Instagram account with a Stop China feed publishes xenophobic content about Chinese culinary habits as well as regular updates on the crackdown that is expanding into the autonomous region of Ningxia Hui. Ningxia Hui recently signed a cooperation agreement on anti-terrorism with Xinjiang in a bid to learn from the crackdown on the Turkic Muslims or in the words of the Global Times, a Communist Party organ, “to learn from Xinjiang's experiences in promoting social stability.” In advance of another protest at the Chinese embassy in Bishkek scheduled for January 17, Kyrgyz first deputy prime minister Kubatbek Boronov called this week on the public not to believe anti-Chinese postings on social media. In an acknowledgement of Kyrk Choro’s appeal, Boronov asserted that the group had denied participating in the December protest. The government, much like Turkey and the vast majority of Muslim countries, has so far evaded taking China to task on its crackdown for fear of jeopardising its relations with the People’s Republic. Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov insisted last month that “the ethnic Kyrgyz of China are citizens of China, who obey the laws of their country. How can we intervene in their domestic matters? We can’t.” If Kazakhstan, where the issue of ethnic Kazakhs detained in China has flared up, is anything to go by, the Kyrgyz government is walking a tightrope. Asyla Alymkulova, a Kyrgyz national recently established the Committee to Protect the Kyrgyz People in China after her husband, Shairbek Doolotkhan, a Chinese-born Muslim, vanished in October on a business trip to Xinjiang. Doolotkhan’s company subsequently advised Alymkulova that her husband had been "sent away to study" in a camp. A Kyrgyz diplomat was among representatives of 12 non-Western countries whom China in the last week invited to Xinjiang to counter criticism of the crackdown and showcase economic and social progress. A group of foreign journalists was invited separately. Short of a reunion with her husband, there is little that is likely to convince Alymkulova or the relatives of thousands of other Central Asians, including at least 2,500 Kazakhs, that Chinese policy towards Muslims is benign and benefitting the community and the region’s progress. That, in turn, will not make things easier for the Kyrgyz and other Muslim governments at a time that ethnic and cultural identities in a nationalistic and at times xenophobic environment are becoming prevalent. Kyrgyz attitudes towards Ashlan Fu may be the barometer. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Turkic-Chinese soup: A barometer of anti-Chinese sentiment

At a highway checkpoint on the outskirts of Beijing, local police are this week testing out a new security tool: smart glasses that can pick up facial features and car registration plates, and match them in real-time with a database of suspects.

The AI-powered glasses, made by LLVision, scan the faces of vehicle occupants and the plates, flagging with a red box and warning sign to the wearer when any match up with a centralised &quot;blacklist&quot;.

The test - which coincides with the annual meeting of China&#39;s parliament in central Beijing - underscores a major push by China&#39;s leaders to leverage technology to boost security in the country.

That drive has led to growing concerns that China is developing a sophisticated surveillance state that will lead to intensifying crackdowns on dissent.

&quot;(China&#39;s) leadership once felt a degree of trepidation over the advancement of the internet and communication technologies,&quot; said David Bandurski, co-director of the China Media Project, a media studies research project at the University of Hong Kong.

&quot;It now sees them as absolutely indispensable tools of social and political control.&quot;

Wu Fei, chief executive of LLVision, said people should not be worried about privacy concerns because China&#39;s authorities were using the equipment for &quot;noble causes&quot;, catching suspects and fugitives from the law.

&quot;We trust the government,&quot; he told Reuters at the company&#39;s headquarters in Beijing.

Reuters was able to verify that the glasses were being used in tests by the police to help identify suspect individuals and vehicles in the Beijing area in recent days.

China, under President Xi Jinping, is making a major push to use artificial intelligence, facial recognition and big data technology to track and control behaviour that goes against the interests of the ruling Communist Party online and in the wider world.

Xi is expected to cement his power base this weekend as a reform to remove term limits is pushed through. That would in effect allow him to stay in his post indefinitely.

Delegates and visitors entering the Great Hall of the People, the venue for the parliament, the National People&#39;s Congress, have to go through facial scanners. The same happened to those attending the related advisory body, the Chinese People&#39;s Political Consultative Conference.

&quot;This year, security at the two sessions has some freshly-baked &#39;black tech&#39; coming online,&quot; wrote the state-run Science and Technology Daily newspaper, using a comic-book term in China for futuristic surveillance gadgets.

The paper said cameras at the event had been upgraded to capture, analyse and compare suspicious faces in around two seconds, powered by a system called &quot;Skynet&quot; - which has a national database of blacklisted individuals.

&quot;The plot of sci-fi film &#39;Minority Report&#39; is now basically becoming a part of daily life,&quot; the newspaper added, referring to the Tom Cruise movie set in a futuristic society where crimes are solved and punished before they even happen.

Robots and Drones

China has been deploying a growing arsenal of security technology, fuelling the growth of a domestic industry and worrying civil rights defenders about the growing intrusion on individual privacy.

A key concern is that blacklists could include a wide range of people stretching from lawyers and artists to political dissidents, charity workers, journalists and rights activists.

The new technologies range from police robots for crowd control, to drones to monitor border areas, and artificially intelligent systems to track and censor behaviour online. There are also scanners to forcibly read mobile phone data and even police dogs with virtual reality cameras.

A recent Human Rights Watch report said China was also expanding a biometric voice database to boost voice recognition capabilities.

Surveillance measures long-used in restive areas such as Xinjiang in the northwest are also being rolled out more widely around the country, with a planned drive to centralize and standardize powerful but fragmented systems over the next year.

At the meeting of the NPC, most delegates said the increasing use of technology to improve state security was a positive, and that the benefits far outweighed privacy concerns.

&quot;This is a good thing, it means our technology is really leading the world,&quot; said Lu Yaping, a delegate from Jiangsu province in eastern China. &quot;I don&#39;t have any concerns about safety.&quot;

&nbsp;

At a highway checkpoint on the outskirts of Beijing, local police are this week testing out a new security tool: smart glasses that can pick up facial features and car registration plates, and match them in real-time with a database of suspects

At a highway checkpoint on the outskirts of Beijing, local police are this week testing out a new security tool: smart glasses that can pick up facial features and car registration plates, and match them in real-time with a database of suspects. The AI-powered glasses, made by LLVision, scan the faces of vehicle occupants and the plates, flagging with a red box and warning sign to the wearer when any match up with a centralised "blacklist". The test - which coincides with the annual meeting of China's parliament in central Beijing - underscores a major push by China's leaders to leverage technology to boost security in the country. That drive has led to growing concerns that China is developing a sophisticated surveillance state that will lead to intensifying crackdowns on dissent. "(China's) leadership once felt a degree of trepidation over the advancement of the internet and communication technologies," said David Bandurski, co-director of the China Media Project, a media studies research project at the University of Hong Kong. "It now sees them as absolutely indispensable tools of social and political control." Wu Fei, chief executive of LLVision, said people should not be worried about privacy concerns because China's authorities were using the equipment for "noble causes", catching suspects and fugitives from the law. "We trust the government," he told Reuters at the company's headquarters in Beijing. Reuters was able to verify that the glasses were being used in tests by the police to help identify suspect individuals and vehicles in the Beijing area in recent days. China, under President Xi Jinping, is making a major push to use artificial intelligence, facial recognition and big data technology to track and control behaviour that goes against the interests of the ruling Communist Party online and in the wider world. Xi is expected to cement his power base this weekend as a reform to remove term limits is pushed through. That would in effect allow him to stay in his post indefinitely. Delegates and visitors entering the Great Hall of the People, the venue for the parliament, the National People's Congress, have to go through facial scanners. The same happened to those attending the related advisory body, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. "This year, security at the two sessions has some freshly-baked 'black tech' coming online," wrote the state-run Science and Technology Daily newspaper, using a comic-book term in China for futuristic surveillance gadgets. The paper said cameras at the event had been upgraded to capture, analyse and compare suspicious faces in around two seconds, powered by a system called "Skynet" - which has a national database of blacklisted individuals. "The plot of sci-fi film 'Minority Report' is now basically becoming a part of daily life," the newspaper added, referring to the Tom Cruise movie set in a futuristic society where crimes are solved and punished before they even happen. Robots and Drones China has been deploying a growing arsenal of security technology, fuelling the growth of a domestic industry and worrying civil rights defenders about the growing intrusion on individual privacy. A key concern is that blacklists could include a wide range of people stretching from lawyers and artists to political dissidents, charity workers, journalists and rights activists. The new technologies range from police robots for crowd control, to drones to monitor border areas, and artificially intelligent systems to track and censor behaviour online. There are also scanners to forcibly read mobile phone data and even police dogs with virtual reality cameras. A recent Human Rights Watch report said China was also expanding a biometric voice database to boost voice recognition capabilities. Surveillance measures long-used in restive areas such as Xinjiang in the northwest are also being rolled out more widely around the country, with a planned drive to centralize and standardize powerful but fragmented systems over the next year. At the meeting of the NPC, most delegates said the increasing use of technology to improve state security was a positive, and that the benefits far outweighed privacy concerns. "This is a good thing, it means our technology is really leading the world," said Lu Yaping, a delegate from Jiangsu province in eastern China. "I don't have any concerns about safety."

China cracks down on dissent, develops smart glasses to track suspects