China arrests ex-Reuters investigator and wife

A statement issued by family members on Wednesday said Humphrey, who is British, and his wife, an American specialist in forensic accounting, have lawyers and have been in touch with consular officials. They are co-founders of ChinaWhys, a Hong Kong-based investigation firm they established in 2003.

A spokesman for the British Embassy in Beijing said Humphrey was formally arrested in Shanghai on Monday. A spokesman for the US Embassy could not comment on Yu.

They were detained by police on 10 July, but not formally arrested, in a Chinese police investigation into bribery allegations against drug maker GlaxoSmithKline. Detention is an informal stage in the legal system that allows authorities to gather information and build a case. Formal arrest in China typically indicates police believe they have enough evidence to charge a person with a crime. Suspects may get their first access to a lawyer when they are formally arrested.

Glaxo has said some of its China executives may have violated Chinese law and company policy and that it is cooperating.

“We only know that Ying and Peter did investigative work on corruption within foreign companies,” the family’s statement issued to The Wall Street Journal said. “As corruption is high on the schedule of China’s government, the incarceration of Ying and Peter seems to be contradictory to China’s policy in itself.”

The statement said the two were being treated well but that Humphrey has a medical condition that requires monitoring.

Humphrey has spent 37 years involved with China and Eastern European countries. After two decades as a correspondent with Reuters in Asia, Eastern Europe and the Balkans, he has spent the past 14 years as a risk management specialist and corporate detective focused on white-collar crime prevention, fraud investigation and crisis mitigation for multinationals in Asia. ■