She’s been missing for months.
Fan Bingbing might be most well known to western audiences as Blink from X-Men: Days of Future Past‘s Blink. And she may well have blinked off the face of the Earth, because she hasn’t been seen in public since June. And most seem to think she’s been snatched up by China’s National Supervision Commission (NSC). What is the NSC? Well, they’re an “anti corruption” task force, known for practicing “liuzhi” (enforced disappearances).
See, these disappearances are one of everyone’s favorite Pooh-bear, Xi Jinping’s, most beloved pastimes. You express an idea he doesn’t like, or engage in activism he disapproves of? Well, hope you didn’t have any plans. In Fan Bingbing’s case, she seems to have been taken after a CCTV presenter accused her of large-scale tax fraud in May.
Fan Bingbing had been at the heart of an unfolding tax scandal since May when former state media CCTV presenter Cui Yongyuan accused her of large-scale tax evasion.Following the corruption allegations, the State Administration of Taxation opened an investigation and, as is becoming increasingly common in China, not long after she stopped appearing in public.No official word has been given about her disappearance yet, nor have any charges been announced by Chinese authorities.Her disappearance, should be seen within the broader context of the ever-expanding use of enforced disappearances under Xi Jinping, and the newly-formed National Supervision Commission.
And, uh, wherever they’re kept ain’t Candyland.
In another emblematic case, journalist Chen Jieren was disappeared for actually alleging corruption.
Under the new laws, these sweeping anti-corruption bodies have jurisdiction not only over China’s roughly 90 million Communist Party members, but also over a potentially unlimited target group including nearly any government staff, managers at state-owned enterprises, and really anyone if they are deemed relevant to a case of Party concern.The crimes might include, as with Fan Bingbing, large scale tax evasion or tragically, as with Chen Yong, if you are only wanted in relation to another investigation.According to Liu Jianchao, head of the Zhejiang supervision commission, those swept up into Liuzhi are typically kept for 42.5 days before being transferred. Although someone can be kept for up to six months, a lot can happen in forty plus days of disappearance.
It’s not uncommon for those so disappeared to die under these conditions. And you don’t get legal representation or family visits, either. That’s just how it works under an actual oppressive regime.
Source: BoingBoing, CNN
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