2015-02-05
A Chinese netizen uses Weibo, the Twitter-like microblogging service of Sina, in a rural village in southwest China’s Guizhou province, Dec. 15, 2012.
Imaginechina
Authorities in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong are holding a netizen under criminal detention after he posted remarks critical of President Xi Jinping online, his fiancee said Thursday.
Liang Qinhui, also known by his online nickname “Sharp Knife,” was detained by police in Guangdong’s provincial capital Guangzhou on Tuesday, Liang’s fiancee Fu Yuqin told RFA.
“[The police] said they wanted to have a chat and that it wasn’t convenient here at home, so he should go to the police station,” Fu said.
“As a good citizen, he went along with it, but when he got there … they said this was a very serious matter, and that he was likely to be criminally detained.”
Liang now faces charges of “discrediting national leaders,” “incitement to subvert state power,” and “fabricating untrue information,” she said.
The charges were based on articles and photos posted online by Liang to chat groups on the popular social media service QQ, she said.
“The police told me that the subversion charge and the charge of discrediting national leaders were linked to Liang’s posting of a photo of Xi Jinping, which had text added to it which contained insults,” Fu said.
Fu said she couldn’t see the logic in the charges.
“I think that he was posting it to make a point about today’s society, and about justice,” she said. “I didn’t think it was that bad.”
“He wrote that the beauty of a society lies in equality, and that of a country in freedom, the beauty of a government in its people, and the beauty of the people’s lives lies in their rights,” Fu said.
“I called up the police and asked them what kind of a country can’t even manage freedom of expression.”
“He told me that there is freedom of expression, but that it wasn’t OK to say those things.”
Fu added: “I think it’s pretty dangerous when even those ideas aren’t allowed.”
Tightened controls
Press freedom campaigner Wang Aizhong said the party has continued to tighten controls over online expression that is remotely critical of the regime.
