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(TibetanReview.net, May21, 2014) – China has arrested, detained or held away from home against their will some 50 dissidents since early this month ahead of the anniversary of the Jun 3-4, 1989 Tiananmen Square bloodbath, reported Kyodo News International May 19. It added, citing Radio France Internationale, that among the other detained or monitored dissidents were scholars, religious leaders, and members of Tiananmen Mothers, a group representing some 200 families whose children were killed by Chinese PLA troops in the crackdown.
The latest among those put under criminal detention was stated to include Shengguan (original name Xu Zhiqiang), a prodemocracy movement leader during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protest who became a Buddhist monk in 2001. He was placed under criminal detention on May 17 for allegedly “inciting subversion of state power.”
“(Shengguan) had been meeting with friends in Wuhan for about a week. What he has done could not be seen in any way as subversive,” the report quoted Chinese human rights scholar Teng Biao as saying.
Shengguan was harassed by the authorities after performing a ritual in 2006 for those who died in the Jun 4 massacre and for organizing a memorial in 2009 for the late state leader Hu Yaobang. The report added that in 2011, he met in India with the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, whom Beijing vilifies as a separatist.
Also, in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, Qin Yongmin, 57, who has already served a lengthy jail term for helping to found the banned opposition China Democracy Party (CDP), was taken with his wife Zhao Suli from their home by state security police officers on May 18, reported Radio Free Asia May 19, citing friends and fellow activists.
Fellow CDP member Chen Shuqing was said to suspect that the couple may be under police detention at a tourist resort, rather than being charged with any crime. “They have already taken Qin Yongmin on a number of ‘vacations’ lasting 10 days or more,” Chen was quoted as saying.
Earlier, Radio Free Asia (Washington) reported May 15 that authorities in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong had detained five prominent rights activists on public order charges. It said Wenfei, Luo Xiangyang, Zhang Wanhe, Yang Sui and Wu Bin were taken away from their homes by police beginning on Apr 29. They were later placed under criminal detention for allegedly “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble,” the report said, citing Luo’s lawyer Wu Kuiming.
Citing her colleague and lawyer Zhang Sizhi, Radio Free Asia further reported May 16 that Qu Zhenhong, detained human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang’s niece and legal representative, had been placed under criminal detention by Beijing police on suspicion of “illegally gathering citizens’ information.”
The report also said that Chinese police had on May 16 detained prominent rights lawyer Tang Jingling on charges of “causing a disturbance.” It said Tang was the sixth of the May 3 seminar group to be charged and held under criminal detention.
