Chinese Dissidents Released by Police
2004-12-13

Nations China City Beijing Metropolitan Beijing People Yu Jie Profession Scholars Activists

BEIJING - A Chinese activist whose writings frequently criticized the ruling Communist Party was released Tuesday after being detained by police, in what appears to be the latest in the government's ongoing efforts to tighten control over public dissent.

Yu Jie said he was taken from his Beijing home around 6 p.m. Monday by a group of police officers and was questioned through the night before he was let go.

``They just kept asking me about my overseas essays, which they said were against the government and against the law,'' Yu said in a telephone interview from his home. The call was disconnected when he was asked if he was beaten, a frequent sign that authorities were monitoring telephone lines.

Liu Xiaobo, another prominent activist, was also detained Monday for ``jeopardizing national security,'' said Liu Qing, president of the New York-based Human Rights in China.

At least five officers searched Liu's home before taking him and his wife away, he said.

Ren Wanding, a democracy activist, said Liu Xiaobo was released Tuesday.

Telephone calls to Liu's home and Beijing's main public security bureau were not answered.

Ren said another intellectual, former Communist Youth League official Zhang Zuhua, had also been detained, but did not have any details on his case. Liu Qing said he had no information about Zhang.

The Chinese government regularly uses vaguely worded anti-subversion laws to detain citizens who challenge its monopoly on power - whether in essays posted on the Internet or through public demonstrations.

Those who are released are usually closely monitored, with their telephones tapped and their movements watched.

``Ever since (President) Hu Jintao came into power, the government has become more strict and more repressive,'' said Liu Qing. ``Prison sentences for people questioning the government have become much longer.''

Liu Xiaobo is well-known for his essays criticizing the government for charging Internet dissidents with subversion. He is chairman of the Chinese chapter of International PEN, a group which defends writers which are harassed, imprisoned or killed for their views.

A literary critic and author, Liu returned to China from abroad at the height of the student-led democracy protests that swept Beijing and other Chinese cities in 1989. He led a hunger strike among intellectuals in support of the students and later served 18 months in prison for his activities.

Yu, a former student at the prestigious Peking University, was dismissed from his job because he wrote articles criticizing the government. He gained prominence by posting his works on the Internet and is also a member of the Chinese International PEN chapter.

This year, Liu, Yu and Zhang were among dozens of activists who signed a letter urging the Chinese government to concede it made mistakes in crushing the 1989 Tiananmen protests.

Liu was also briefly detained in June, ahead of the 15-year anniversary of the bloody crackdown.

Also Tuesday, Human Rights in China called on Thai authorities to not repatriate a Chinese democracy activist who went there last month and met with other activists. He is also seeking refugee status from the United Nations, HRIC said.

Lu Decheng served 10 years in prison after he and two others were caught throwing paint and paint-filled eggs on a portrait of Mao Zedong in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Thai authorities have told Lu he will be sent back to China on Wednesday, HRIC said. AP