Activists calling for declaration of Chinese officials' assets detained
Three held in Beijing for holding up banners in a public square demanding transparency on the part of leading Communist Party members
At least three activists campaigning for senior Communist Party officials to disclose their family assets were in custody yesterday for staging an illegal gathering, Liang Xiaojun, the lawyer for one of the detainees, said.
Liang said his client, Yuan Dong, was taken into police custody along with three other activists for criminal investigation after they held banners in the Xidan Culture Square in Beijing's Xicheng district on Sunday afternoon calling for greater disclosure of officials' assets to improve the transparency of governance and combat official corruption.
Yuan, 45, was being held in the Beijing No3 Detention Centre along with two other activists, Zhang Baocheng and Ma Xinli, Liang said, but the whereabouts of the fourth activist, Hou Xin, was unknown.
Beijing police did not respond to an inquiry about the detentions yesterday.
The activists' street campaign is part of a broader civil campaign launched in December calling for top government officials to declare their assets publicly to help fight rampant official corruption.
Thousands of mainlanders from a wide range of social groups have signed an open letter calling for the members of the Communist Party's new Central Committee to disclose their family assets, saying the initiative would be the most effective way to rein in corruption.
The letter, sent to the National People's Congress, argues that the 205 members of the Central Committee are the most powerful people on the mainland and that by setting an example they could make a difference in the fight against corruption.