A Hong Kong reporter who has been unavailable since traveling to China more than a month ago is the second journalist at her newspaper in as many years to have a lengthy, unexplained absence from work, according to several people familiar with the situation.

Minnie Chan, a reporter for the South China Morning Post (SCMP), has been out of touch with friends since she traveled to Beijing in late October to attend the Xiangshan Forum, Japanese newspaper Kyodo News reported on Thursday, raising fears that she may have been arrested by Chinese authorities.

Hong Kong-based SCMP, owned by Chinese tech giant Alibaba, said on Friday that Chan was on personal vacation in Beijing and had been informed by her family that she “needs time to attend to a private matter.” .

“Her family has told us she is safe but has asked us to respect her privacy,” a spokesman told the newspaper. “We are in contact with Minnie’s family and cannot provide any further information.”

However, the SCMP statement has not allayed concerns about Chan’s well-being, with staff and media freedom groups demanding assurances of her safety.

Chan’s absence comes after another SCMP reporter cut ties with China for several months in 2022, sparking fears among colleagues that they may have been arrested, four people familiar with the newsroom discussions said. told Al Jazeera.

The reporter, whose work was not published by SCMP for nine months, later returned to work at the newspaper, but in a different section covering less politically sensitive news. The reporter has not written for SCMP in several months and it is unclear whether she is still employed by the newspaper.

Al Jazeera has decided not to name the reporter, who did not respond to requests for comment, out of respect for privacy.

The SCMP declined to comment on “speculative reports” about the second reporter, citing privacy concerns.

“The safety of our journalists in their professional activities is of utmost importance to us,” said a spokesman.

Media freedom organizations, including the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), remain concerned for Chan’s well-being.

“Reports of Hong Kong journalist Minnie Chan’s disappearance after a business trip to Beijing are extremely worrying, and Chinese authorities must immediately disclose her whereabouts and ensure her safety,” Iris Hsu, CPJ’s China representative, said in a statement on Friday .

“Journalists must be able to do their work without fearing for their safety.”

Former South China Morning Post editor-in-chief Wang Xiangwei also said on social media that he was “praying.”[ing] for Minnie Chan, my friend and former colleague at SCMP,” without elaborating.

On Monday, free speech advocacy group Article 19 criticized the SCMP for threatening legal action against Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP), an online news outlet, after its editor-in-chief asked the newspaper for comment on Chan’s case.

“The threat of legal action against HKFP has all the hallmarks of an arbitrary legal action to silence and intimidate a free press carrying out its role as a public watchdog,” said Michael Caster, Article 19’s Asia digital programming manager.

“Instead of threatening legal action, the South China Morning Post should be grateful for the support and solidarity shown to its journalist.”

The Article 19 declaration came after the SCMP told HKFP’s editor-in-chief in an email that it was “concerned that you may draw hasty conclusions that are not supported by facts” and that it reserved the right “To take legal action against “any false reporting on this matter” regarding the Post.”

Hong Kong’s media environment, once among the most dynamic in Asia, has deteriorated dramatically since the imposition of a Beijing-enacted national security law in 2020.

The SCMP, which has become known in recent years for its pro-Beijing policy, has been spared police raids that have shuttered most of the city’s independent and pro-democracy media outlets.

According to CPJ, China has one of the worst prison populations of journalists in the world, with at least 43 reporters imprisoned in 2022.

Last month, Cheng Lei, an Australian journalist who worked for Chinese state-owned company CGTN, was released after spending three years in detention on national security charges.

Chinese authorities have a range of powers to detain journalists for extended periods without charge.

A Canadian travel advisory says Chinese police can detain suspects for up to 37 days before formally arresting them and up to 13.5 months before filing formal charges.

Another form of detention, known as “residential surveillance in a specific location,” allows suspects to be held for up to six months without being charged or having access to a lawyer.