Beijing Intensifies Campaign Against “Unstable Elements” Ahead of Olympics

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With the Beijing Olympics only weeks away, Chinese police have stepped up a campaign against “unstable elements.” Recently, several social activists have been secretly arrested. 

Du Daobin, 43, renowned Internet writer

According to the Independent Chinese Pen Association, Du Daobin, a freelance Internet writer from Hubei Province, was arrested at around 11 a.m. on July 22 at his home. Seven or eight policemen broke into his house and announced that his previous sentence (prison term after probation) had been changed to an immediate prison sentence.

The police stated that Du had violated probation rules by publishing over 100 articles on websites based outside of China, leaving his home without prior approval, meeting guests without prior approval and failing to report his thoughts periodically to the local police.

Police took two computers, transcripts, and letters from Du’s home. Among the letters were some that Du had written a few years ago to his family while he was imprisoned.

Du was convicted of sedition in June 2004 by Xiaogan City Intermediate Court. He was sentenced to three years in prison after a four-year probation. He was allowed to go home during probation. 

Huang Qi, 45, founder of “64 Tianwang” website

Radio Free Asia reported that Huang Qi, the founder of Tianwang Web, was formally arrested in July 2008. Huang is a well-known human rights activist and a cyber dissident.

After the earthquake in May, Huang actively participated in disaster relief work in Sichuan and tried to help parents of the students killed during the earthquake. He was detained on June 10 by Chengdu police for “illegally possessing state secrets.”

On July 18, Huang’s mother, Pu Wenqing, traveled from Neijiang to Chengdu to inquire about her son’s whereabouts. Chengdu police told her that Huang had been formally arrested.

The arrest warrant, which Ms. Pu obtained, accused Huang of illegally possessing state secrets. Attorney Mo Shaoping, a human rights attorney representing Huang, said he had not communicated with Chengdu Police and did not know what state secrets were involved. 

Attorney Zheng Enchong, 58, detained

Hong Kong resident Shen Ting told The Epoch Times that Zheng Enchong, an attorney, was called to the Zhabei District Police Bureau at about 4 p.m. on July 20. He has yet to be released. 

Shen suspects that the Chinese government will try to formally arrest Zheng before the Olympics. Zheng has advised hundreds of families displaced by China’s rapid urban development projects of their rights. He served three years in prison between 2003 and 2006 for sending displacement-related information to a New York-based human rights group.  

Chinese version: http://news.epochtimes.com/gb/8/7/20/n2198374.htm