BEIJING (AP) — Chinese police broke up a dinner party attended by activists in the eastern city of Hangzhou Tuesday night and detained a dozen people, according to an activist who attended the dinner.
Activist and blogger Wang Wusi said he and another 10 people were released after spending about two hours in police custody. He said police held Wen Kejian until Wednesday morning, when he was released although without his cell phone or computer. Wen is a signatory of Charter 08, a document calling for democracy and the end of one-party rule in China.
Wang said Wednesday that they had been warned by police that they would not be allowed to meet. He said they organized the event in response to the recent detentions of other activists.
“Recently, inside the country people have been getting nervous because they’ve been detaining people,” Wang said. “We just wanted to get together and discuss this because we all feel the pressure growing.”
Hangzhou police did not answer repeated telephone calls seeking comment.
Chinese police have broken up previous dinner parties held by activists. In recent weeks, police have also detained well-known human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang, journalist Gao Yu and others ahead of the politically sensitive 25th anniversary of the June 4 Tiananmen Square protests and crackdown.
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