China in hot seat over imprisonment of activist

U.S. among countries demanding release of man jailed with his wife and baby over criticisms of Beijing Olympics

Aileen McCabe
Canwest News Service

SHANGHAI -- Despite intense international pressure, including a specific request this week from visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, China appears determined to keep human rights activist Hu Jia behind bars.

Asked about the case at his regular press briefing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao insisted Hu is being detained legally.

Hu was taken from his apartment by police in December and charged on Jan. 30 with "incitement to subvert state power." His wife and three-month old baby -- dubbed China's youngest political prisoner -- are under house arrest.

Hu, who used the Internet to expose rights abuses across China, had been a thorn in the government's side for several years, but international advocacy group Human Rights Watch charged Wednesday his imprisonment now is "emblematic of Beijing's broad attempt to suppress dissent ahead of the Olympic Games."

Hu and colleague Teng Biao published an open letter last fall criticizing the abuses taking place in the run-up to the Games. It talked about 1.5 million people forced out of their homes without proper compensation to make way for Olympic venues and athletes banned from the Games because of their politics.

Liu dismissed the idea Hu's arrest had anything to do with the Olympics and insisted he had broken the law.

"Relevant groups and individuals shall be well aware that China is a country ruled by law and stop making irresponsible remarks," Liu said.

Despite the denial, Hu's case has received worldwide attention, in large part because his detention appears tied to the Olympics and the link was almost certainly the reason Rice chose to call for his release.

"The longer Hu Jia is in detention, the worse China's image will be," Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director for HRW, said in a release Wednesday. "With fewer than six months to go before the Olympics, the Chinese government has everything to gain and nothing to lose by releasing him."

China has a well-earned reputation for ignoring international pressure on myriad issues, but lately there have been indications it is not only paying attention, but also worried by some of it.

Indeed, in its determination not to let anything mar the Beijing Games, China appears to be making a few concessions to world opinion.

It has noticeably stepped up its diplomatic efforts on the Darfur issue, for instance, following Hollywood director Steven Spielberg's decision to bow out of his role in the Olympic opening ceremony to protest China's refusal to pressure Sudan to stop the killing.

It also unexpectedly released a high profile Hong Kong journalist this month, almost three years after he was jailed on charges of spying for Taiwan.

As well, in a surprise move this week, Beijing told Rice it was prepared to resume the China-U.S. human rights dialogue it suspended in 2004.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008