BEIJING, China — Over a dozen Chinese lawyers and activists were detained or went missing in the final days of 2019 in a crackdown on participants of a private democracy gathering, rights groups said Thursday. The latest crackdown was linked to a December gathering in the east coast city of Xiamen in Fujian province, where participants discussed "democratic transition in China," said Human Rights Watch researcher Wang Yaqiu . Other civil society figures, including pro-democracy activist Xu Zhiyong and human rights lawyer Tang Jingling , have gone missing or are currently unreachable, CHRD said. At least two of the people detained, activists Dai Zhenya and Zhang Zhongshun , are suspected of "subverting" or "inciting subversion" of state power, a charge often used to silence dissidents in China. The crackdown showed how the authorities have "zero tolerance of even just private discussion on issues like democracy and human rights," Amnesty International researcher Patrick Poon said.

Source: Philippine Star January 02, 2020 09:00 UTC