Chinese activists detained ahead of 30th anniversary of Tiananmen crackdown
- Popular live-streaming sites shut down for ‘technical’ reasons and artists involved in a Nanjing exhibition believed to have been taken into custody
Chinese authorities have detained several activists ahead of the politically explosive 30th anniversary of the June 4 crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Beijing, rights groups said on Thursday.
Discussions of the 1989 Tiananmen protests and its military suppression are taboo in China, and authorities have rounded up or warned activists, lawyers and journalists ahead of the anniversary each year.
Internet censors also usually go into overdrive, and this year popular live-streaming sites are shutting down around the anniversary for “technical” reasons.
But this year’s attempts to mute public discourse are harsher than usual because Beijing has become increasingly intolerant of dissenting voices, according to Cao Yaxue, founder of the Washington-based rights group China Change.
Among the string of activists detained or “disappeared” are six artists who had put up a painting and performing art exhibition titled “A Conscience Movement” in the eastern city of Nanjing.
Liu Lijiao, the wife of the lead artist Zhu Hun, said she had not been able to contact her husband since Tuesday.