Beijing, Feb 18: Police in China have arrested a prominent activist who had been a fugitive for weeks and criticised President Xi Jinping's handling of the coronavirus epidemic while in hiding, a rights group said Tuesday.
Anti-corruption activist Xu Zhiyong was arrested on Saturday after being on the run since December, according to Amnesty International.
China's ruling Communist Party has severely curtailed civil liberties since Xi took power in 2012, rounding up rights lawyers, labour activists and even Marxist students.
The death this month of a whistleblowing doctor who was reprimanded by police for raising the alarm about the deadly new virus before dying of it himself triggered rare calls for political reform and freedom of speech.
The "Chinese government's battle against the coronavirus has in no way diverted it from its ongoing general campaign to crush all dissenting voices," said Patrick Poon, China researcher at Amnesty International, in an emailed statement.
Another source, who spoke to news agency on the condition of anonymity, said Xu had been arrested in the southern city of Guangzhou.
Guangzhou police did not respond to requests for comment.
Xu went into hiding after authorities broke up a December gathering of intellectuals discussing political reform in the eastern coastal city of Xiamen in Fujian province, prior to the coronavirus crisis.
Over a dozen lawyers and activists were detained or disappeared after the Xiamen gathering, according to rights groups -- and Xu's detention appears linked to his presence at the meeting, explained Poon.
But while on the run, Xu continued to post information on Twitter about rights issues.
On February 4 Xu released an article calling on Xi to step down and criticised his leadership across a range of issues including the US-China trade war, Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests and the coronavirus epidemic, which has now killed nearly 1,900 people.
"Medical supplies are tight, hospitals are filled with patients, and a large number of infected people have no way to be diagnosed," he wrote. "It's a mess."
"The coronavirus outbreak shows just how important values like freedom of expression and transparency are -- the exact values that Xu has long advocated," Yaqiu Wang, China researcher at Human Rights Watch, told news agency.
But the disappearance of Xu illustrates how the Chinese state "persists in its old ways" by "silencing its critics", she said.
Xu -- who founded a movement calling for greater transparency among high-ranking officials -- previously served a four-year prison sentence from 2013 to 2017 for organising an "illegal gathering".
"That he was a fugitive for so many days while continuing to speak out, that in itself was... a kind of challenge to (Chinese authorities)," said Hua Ze, a long-time friend of Xu who told AFP she lost contact with the Chinese activist on Saturday morning.
Comments
if you think muslim killed million, then forget about you,....even you grand grand father never breath in this world. muslim are generous but if you provoke they will hit with full power even if he was alone, not like you people coward you attack in number like dogs
hope the US nukes muslim lands. Islam is responsible for killing millions
we never find Iran by supporting palestinians in their difficult times , only instigate groups like Hamas to keep entire area boil ,
watch situation sunni muslims in Iraq, syria , yeman... do US or Isreil responsible ? even US interfered , who is the benefeciary...
In Yeman entire sea route is controled by US navy , even then weapons are supplied to houthis.... who is supplying weapons weather US or Iran by the help of US navy.... !
Warriors of Muslim? Nonsense. they are killing so many muslims in Yemen, they are the one who started to fight the sunnis and killing them, they have killed many in Algeria, Lebonan using thei terrorism.
Read history of the their trait before blindly trusting. their statement now is just a political gimmic. if they are so worried about muslims and so powerful and talking about defending Saudi why did they defend palastine why dint they fight israel? why they just watching so many diying muslims children an women and men in palastine where is their power. what we hear nothing bnut lies from them. they will not do anything their aim is to conqer power. Rafida or Rawafid is their name!
Warriors of Muslim? Nonsense. they are killing so many muslims in Yemen, they are the one who started to fight the sunnis and killing them, they have killed many in Algeria, Lebonan using thei terrorism.
Read history of the their trait before blindly trusting. their statement now is just a political gimmic. if they are so worried about muslims and so powerful and talking about defending Saudi why did they defend palastine why dint they fight israel? why they just watching so many diying muslims children an women and men in palastine where is their power. what we hear nothing bnut lies from them. they will not do anything their aim is to conqer power. Rafida or Rawafid is their name!
salute fo the true worrier of muslim, IRAN
you are asking help with american slaves, sorry they are loyal dogs die for them not for muslim brothers.
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