Via our friend Dr. Weimin Mo. All thanks forever to Weimin:
Chinese authorities’ sweeping move against dozens of rights lawyers and activists late last week has expanded further over the weekend. The number of people reportedly involved has surged to over 100 across China, and the offices of three law practices—most notably Beijing Fengrui Law Firm—have been searched. Fengrui lawyers Wang Yu, Zhou Shifeng, Wang Quanzhang, and Huang Liqun, as well as Wang’s husband Bao Longjun and Fengrui administrative assistant Liu Sixin have all been criminally detained.
Amnesty International cautions that “it is difficult to determine who has been detained by the authorities, or taken in for questioning and who may have simply gone into hiding to avoid possible detention,” but estimates that 101 people have been targeted, of whom 25 remain in custody or missing. According to a crowdsourced list tracking the disappearances, as of 7:00 a.m. PDT on Monday lawyers Sui Muqing and Xie Yang, and Christian rights activist Ge Ping are under residential surveillance, while another four lawyers—Li Shuyun, Li Heping, Zheng Enchong, and Zhou Lixin—and 13 others are missing. Another 88 lawyers and 16 others have reportedly been briefly detained or questioned.
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In an article on Sunday headlined “Uncovering the dark story of ‘rights defence’.”, spanning two-thirds of its second page, People’s Daily said the Ministry of Public Security launched the operation to “smash a major criminal gang that had used the Beijing Fengrui law firm as a platform since July 2012 to draw attention to sensitive cases, seriously disturbing social order”.
