Chinese diplomat Liu Jianchao taken in for questioning, WSJ reports Of course, they don't call it an arrest, because you don't arrest, question, and torture diplomats. Earlier, the Chinese arrested a banker, and both bankers and diplomats are normally considered off limits. Even their families are considered off limits and, for example, the US has thrown a few diplomat's family members out of the country, but only after committing serious crimes on a regular basis. I lived in the DC area, where they're famous for doing 100mph on the highway without a license, knowing they can throw any tickets out the window. Anyway, this is the first concrete sign that war is imminent.