China has ordered a pro-democracy writer detained for two years without trial, possibly over his writings on sensitive political issues, rights groups reported yesterday.
Liu Shui (
Liu was sentenced to remain at the center for two years of "custody and education," a sentence handed out for minor crimes without a trial or formal charges, the groups said.
The Sweden-based writers' association said Liu had been accused of "violating regulations on public order," but gave no details. The New York-based CPJ said Liu was picked up with a friend and accused of soliciting prostitution. It said the friend was later released.
Both groups said they believe Liu may have been detained over essays posted on overseas-based Chinese-language Web sites. Those included calls for political reforms, the release of political prisoners and a reassessment of the bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989.
"CPJ is very concerned that authorities may have arrested Liu in retaliation for his recent writing on sensitive topics," the group said in a statement.
A woman who answered the telephone at the Xili Detention Center said Liu wasn't being held in her wing, but refused to give details or her name. Calls to the center's administrative offices rang unanswered.
Liu was earlier jailed for more than four years for taking part in the 1989 pro-democracy movement and then authoring a book challenging the Communist Party's claim that the protests were an organized plot to overthrow the government.
Hundreds, possibly thousands, of people were killed when tanks and troops were sent in to clear protesters from the square in June 1989. The government has never allowed a full investigation or accounting of the victims.
Chinese dissidents say police have tightened surveillance of them in the run-up to this year's 15th anniversary of the crackdown. At least three people, including the mothers of two of those killed in the protests, have been briefly detained, possibly over fears they might organize commemorations.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese