Fears for Chinese NGOs as activists arrested

[Millennium]

Fears for Chinese NGOs as activists arrested

Government increasing pressure on sector, says founder of rights group

PUBLISHED : Monday, 15 June, 2015, 11:59pm
UPDATED : Monday, 15 June, 2015, 11:59pm

Verna Yu [email protected]

Lu Jun, a founder of the Beijing Yirenping Centre, believes a series of detentions of activists, including of five women activists, are part of the authorities' efforts to rein in NGOs. Photo: Reuters

Two activists who used to work for anti-discrimination non-profit group Beijing Yirenping have been detained on criminal charges, a founder of the group reported yesterday, saying he feared the government was stepping up pressure on NGOs.

Guo Bin and Yang Zhanqing were both detained in Guangdong by police from Beijing and Zhengzhou late last Friday, accused of "illegal business activities", said Lu Jun, a founder of the Beijing Yirenping Centre.

Guo, now head of the Zhongyixing centre that advocates for the rights of the disabled, was taken away by police while he was at the bedside of his two-year-old son, who was recovering from an operation at the Shenzhen Children's Hospital, Lu said.

Yang, who works independently on consumer rights issues, was taken from his home in Huizhou, Guangdong by police, he said.

Both used to head Yirenping's branch office in Zhengzhou between 2007 and 2009.

Zhengzhou police refused to comment yesterday, while Beijing police did not respond.

Lu said the government was tightening its pressure on Yirenping, which has long fought for equal opportunities for the disabled and people suffering from health conditions such as Aids and hepatitis.

Lu said that a series of detentions - of Guo and Yang; of five women activists who planned to demonstrate against sexual harassment on public transport in March; of the founder of Zhengzhou Yirenping Chang Boyang last year - along with a raid on Yirenping's office in March were all part of the authorities' efforts to rein in his group and the NGO sector at large.

Some of the country's most progressive, independent NGOs have been targets in the government's latest crackdown on civil society. The think tank Transition Institute was forcibly shut down and its founder Guo Yushan was detained late last year.

Lu said that after last year's establishment of the national security committee - which targets "unconventional security threats", including ideological challenges by the West - NGOs had been harshly dealt with as potential subversive forces.

But he said the government's crackdown on his group and its associates were unreasonable.

"What we are doing is beneficial for the country and its people," he said.