At least five labour rights activists arrested across China
- Police make arrests in Hunan and Guangdong provinces on Sunday evening in what appears to be coordinated crackdown
- They are accused of ‘disturbing public order’
At least five Chinese activists have been arrested by police for allegedly “disturbing public order” in what appears to be a coordinated crackdown on labour activism.
Wu Guijun, Zhang Zhiru, He Yuancheng, Jian Hui and Song Jiahui were all arrested on Sunday evening. Jian was arrested in Changsha, Hunan province, while the four other activists were detained in Guangdong.
Another activist, Lin Dong, is believed to have been picked up by police in Nanning, Guangxi, and subsequently released. Lin left for Vietnam on Monday, according to social media posts. He could not be contacted on Tuesday.
Red Balloon Solidarity, a labour rights monitor in Hong Kong, said in a statement on Tuesday that Wu’s family had received a letter from the police notifying them of his arrest.
China Labour Bulletin (CLB), another workers’ rights group in Hong Kong, said Zhang, Wu and He had all been charged with “disturbing public order” but the circumstances of Jian and Song’s arrests were not known.
