Rights lawyer Tang Jingling detained ahead of Tiananmen anniversary
Tang Jingling, who has fought against graft and land seizures, taken from Guangzhou home ahead of June 4 anniversary, his wife says
Mainland authorities detained a human rights lawyer yesterday in an ongoing clampdown on journalists, scholars and lawyers ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests.
Police took Tang Jingling, 43, away from his home in Guangzhou and said he was suspected of "starting quarrels and provoking trouble", according to his wife, Wang Yanfang . Tang has represented clients complaining of corruption, land seizures and other grievances.
A man who answered the phone at the district police office that issued the criminal detention notice said he knew nothing about the case. He refused to give his name.
Each year, Beijing detains activists or puts them under house arrest ahead of the June 4 anniversary in an attempt to prevent commemorations of the crackdown. Last week, authorities detained lawyer Pu Zhiqiang, liberal scholar Xu Youyu, activist Liu Di and two other people after they attended a private forum on the 1989 crackdown.
Also taken into custody this month were a Chinese assistant at the Chongqing bureau of Japan's Nikkei newspaper said to be connected to Pu's inquiry, and Gao Yu, a veteran reporter previously jailed for her writing on the Tiananmen protests, who was accused of "leaking state secrets".