(WiPC/IFEX) – On the afternoon of 13 December 2004, three prominent dissident intellectuals – literary critic Liu Xiaobo, writer Yu Jie and political theorist Zhang Zuhua – were arrested in Beijing and held for 12 hours, before being freed on the morning of 14 December. International PEN fears that these arrests portend a wider crackdown […]
(WiPC/IFEX) – On the afternoon of 13 December 2004, three prominent dissident intellectuals – literary critic Liu Xiaobo, writer Yu Jie and political theorist Zhang Zuhua – were arrested in Beijing and held for 12 hours, before being freed on the morning of 14 December. International PEN fears that these arrests portend a wider crackdown against dissent in China, and a climate of fear that is stifling freedom of expression.
According to reports, Liu and his wife Liu Xia were taken away from their home in the Chinese capital, Beijing, by police officers from the Beijing National Security Bureau in the late afternoon of 13 December. Liu Xia was released soon after. Yu was arrested about one hour later. Liu Min, Yu’s wife, has said that she was ordered by police to stop her husband from publishing on the Internet. They were reportedly handed arrest warrants stating that they had been accused of “participating in activities harmful to the state”. Documents were seized during searches of their homes. There are further reports that police remain outside their homes, and that they are under de facto house arrest.
Liu and Yu are founding members of the Independent Chinese PEN Centre, set up in 2001. In late October, the two men organised an award ceremony in honour of Zhang Yihe, an author of a book on political repression in China in the 1950s, which was subsequently banned, although it continues to be circulated in pirate copy. Zhang Zuhua had attended the award ceremony. Liu and Yu have also been active in campaigning for the release of fellow poet and PEN member Shi Tao, arrested in November for “leaking state secrets overseas” (see IFEX alert of 7 December 2004).
Recent months have seen a steady stream of writers, intellectuals and other dissidents being arrested and harassed. The BBC World Service cites an article by a “well known intellectual” as saying that “intellectuals were now terrified” and that there were fears of “a return of totalitarianism to the mainland.” It adds that the press has been ordered not to give publicity to several well-known intellectuals, including Yu (see alert of 3 December 2004).
Journalist John Kahn writes that since President Hu Jintao replaced Jiang Zemin in September, the political environment in China has become more repressive. “The scope for discussing sensitive topics in the state-run news media has decreased (. . .) while authorities appear intent on punishing people who violate unwritten rules about the limits of free speech.”
