Great wall of silence
China, Issue 1671 THE Foreign Office has discouraged colleagues of SOAS postgraduate student Zhang Yadi, detained and missing in China since last summer, from speaking out, telling them the case is "more effectively pursued through private diplomatic channels". But more than six months after her detention, there's little sign of any activity from the UK government.

Zhang was detained by Chinese state officials in July, after travelling to China to visit family before beginning an MA Anthropology course at SOAS, University of London. Her friends say Chinese officials detained her for allegedly inciting Tibetan separatism.

The scholar is not known to have made any public separatist remarks. During undergraduate studies in Paris she was a member of Youth Action for Tibet, a student group committed to introducing Tibetan culture to Chinese audiences.

Soft touch
SOAS is yet to publicly call for her release and has only made one statement about the case, telling student press in September: "We are aware of reports that a Chinese citizen who has been offered a place at SOAS is missing and detained. We are following the case very closely and offering support to those impacted via the channels available to us."

Despite being initially supportive of the diplomatic approach, students and staff are becoming increasingly frustrated with the lack of any significant progress and believe the university has been effectively gagged by the Foreign Office's softly-softly stance, revealed in correspondence with officials seen by the Eye.

Vague posting
The Foreign Office has released no official statement calling for Zhang's release. In October 2025, immigration minister Seema Malhotra answered a Commons question about the case in the vaguest of terms: "We continue to follow developments closely and regularly raise human rights concerns with the Chinese authorities. The UK remains committed to promoting human rights and the rule of law globally."

The department declined to comment on the case, including whether Keir Starmer even mentioned the case to President Xi on his recent visit to China.

The British approach is in stark contrast to that of the European Union. Last December an EU human rights delegation travelled to Beijing and directly called for the release of Zhang Yadi, as well as 30 other supporters of minority rights in China.