Naked protester detained by Chinese police wanted mum to visit Hong Kong

The wife of independent documentary producer Yang Weidong has confirmed that police have detained her husband and his assistant for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" after Yang's naked protest outside a government building.

Du Xing told the South China Morning Post that Beijing police's Dongcheng sub-bureau had given her two detention notices yesterday, four days after the pair were taken away.

Du said Yang's assistant, Miao Zhuang, had taken a photograph as Yang stood naked outside the offices of the General Administration of Sport with a paper sign that read: "Vice-President Li Yuanchao is my elder brother". The protest took place at about dawn on Friday.

She said that Yang and Miao had posted the photo online, saying the "performance" was a protest against authorities' ban on Yang's 78-year-old mother Xie Yinxian from visiting Hong Kong.

Yang and his wife had planned to take Xie with them on a business trip to Hong Kong last Wednesday, but police told them she could not leave the mainland because "her leave might endanger national security".

"My husband was very angry, and decided to make a naked protest," Du said.