02-18-2020, 09:17 PM
Prominent activist arrested for criticizing President Xi's handling of coronavirus outbreak in China
A prominent Chinese activist who criticized President Xi Jinping's handling of the coronavirus epidemic while in hiding has been arrested, a rights group said Tuesday.
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Xu Zhiyong, an anti-corruption activist was arrested on Saturday after being on the run since December, according to Amnesty International.
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Another source, who spoke to AFP on the condition of anonymity, said Xu had been arrested in the southern city of Guangzhou.
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On February 4, Xu released an article calling on Xi to step down and criticised his leadership across a range of issues including the US-China trade war, Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests and the coronavirus epidemic, which has now killed nearly 1,900 people.
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'Medical supplies are tight, hospitals are filled with patients, and a large number of infected people have no way to be diagnosed,' he wrote. 'It's a mess.'
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'The coronavirus outbreak shows just how important values like freedom of expression and transparency are - the exact values that Xu has long advocated,' Yaqiu Wang, China researcher at Human Rights Watch.
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'That he was a fugitive for so many days while continuing to speak out, that in itself was... a kind of challenge to (Chinese authorities),' said Hua Ze, a long-time friend of Xu who told AFP she lost contact with the Chinese activist on Saturday morning.
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According to Mail Online, Xu went into hiding after authorities broke up a December gathering of intellectuals discussing political reform in the eastern coastal city of Xiamen in Fujian province, prior to the coronavirus crisis.
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Since President X took power in 2012, China's ruling Communist Party has arrested several rights lawyers, labour activists and even Marxist students.
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The Wuhan coronavirus death toll has reached 1,900 people, with more than 71,000 infected worldwide.Â
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A prominent Chinese activist who criticized President Xi Jinping's handling of the coronavirus epidemic while in hiding has been arrested, a rights group said Tuesday.
Â
Xu Zhiyong, an anti-corruption activist was arrested on Saturday after being on the run since December, according to Amnesty International.
Â
Another source, who spoke to AFP on the condition of anonymity, said Xu had been arrested in the southern city of Guangzhou.
Â
On February 4, Xu released an article calling on Xi to step down and criticised his leadership across a range of issues including the US-China trade war, Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests and the coronavirus epidemic, which has now killed nearly 1,900 people.
Â
'Medical supplies are tight, hospitals are filled with patients, and a large number of infected people have no way to be diagnosed,' he wrote. 'It's a mess.'
Â
Â
'The coronavirus outbreak shows just how important values like freedom of expression and transparency are - the exact values that Xu has long advocated,' Yaqiu Wang, China researcher at Human Rights Watch.
Â
'That he was a fugitive for so many days while continuing to speak out, that in itself was... a kind of challenge to (Chinese authorities),' said Hua Ze, a long-time friend of Xu who told AFP she lost contact with the Chinese activist on Saturday morning.
Â
According to Mail Online, Xu went into hiding after authorities broke up a December gathering of intellectuals discussing political reform in the eastern coastal city of Xiamen in Fujian province, prior to the coronavirus crisis.
Â
Since President X took power in 2012, China's ruling Communist Party has arrested several rights lawyers, labour activists and even Marxist students.
Â
The Wuhan coronavirus death toll has reached 1,900 people, with more than 71,000 infected worldwide.Â
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