Son of detained Chinese human rights lawyer held after trying to flee to the United States

The teenage son of a rights lawyer detained in a sweeping crackdown on civil society is under house arrest in northern China after he was caught in Myanmar while trying to escape to the United States, a family friend said on Monday.

Bao Zhuoxuan, also known as Bao Mengmeng, is under 24-hour police surveillance at his grandparents’ house in Inner Mongolia and is not allowed contact with the outside world, Liang Bo, a San Francisco-based family friend, said.

Bao, 16, is the son of Wang Yu, a lawyer who disappeared on July 9 amid a rounding up of dozens of rights lawyers and social activists in a broad crackdown on groups that seek changes in society and that operate outside the Communist Party.

Wang has represented people involved in politically-sensitive cases and earlier this year was the legal counsel for one of five women’s rights activists jailed over a planned event against sexual harassment.

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Bao and his father were detained on the same day by police at Beijing’s international airport on their way to Australia where Bao was to attend high school. Bao was released after two days, but his passport was revoked, Zhou said. His parents are still missing.

Chinese authorities routinely put pressure on activists by targeting their family members.