Chinese activist Yang Lin arrested on subversion charge as crackdown deepens
China has arrested an activist on a charge of subversion, his brother and a rights group said on Sunday, the second such arrest in less than two months and the latest sign that the authorities are hardening their stance towards dissent.
China has arrested an activist on a charge of subversion, his brother and a rights group said on Sunday, the second such arrest in less than two months and the latest sign that the authorities are hardening their stance towards dissent.
Yang Lin, 45, a critic of China’s one-party system who lives in Guangdong, was arrested on a charge of “inciting subversion of state power”, his brother, Yang Mingzhu, said by telephone.
[Yang Lin] would not hesitate in throwing himself wholeheartedly in helping disadvantaged citizens fight for their rights
In China, an inciting subversion charge is commonly levelled against critics of one-party rule. It carries a maximum penalty of five years in jail, though lengthier sentences have been handed down.
Yang Mingzhu said he had received a notice of his brother’s arrest, dated July 19, but it gave few details.
The US-based group Chinese Human Rights Defenders said Yang Lin, had spent a year in a labour camp, and he was also a signatory of “Charter 08” – a manifesto organised by jailed Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo – which calls for political reform.
“He would not hesitate in throwing himself wholeheartedly in helping disadvantaged citizens fight for their rights and in activities promoting constitutional democracy,” the advocacy group said on its website on Sunday.