After two famous Chinese human rights activists were held in Beijing last week on the route to a meeting with EU officials, the EU appealed for their immediate release.
In an email to Reuters late Tuesday, an EU spokeswoman said Yu Wensheng and Xu Yan’s detention shortly before their meeting with visiting EU officials last Thursday was “already not acceptable” and that their “formal arrest on Saturday is a matter of serious concern.”
“The EU requested to the Chinese authorities their immediate and unconditional release,” the statement said.
“China’s ongoing crackdown on human rights activists and lawyers is well-known EU concern, which we raise at all levels.”
Beijing’s Public Security Bureau did not respond to a faxed request for comment on the married couple’s imprisonment.
Wang Wenbin, the foreign ministry spokesperson, said, “Chinese authorities handle cases according to the law” and that China opposed involvement in domestic affairs when questioned about the detentions on Wednesday.
Human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng, 55, served a four-year sentence for “subversion of state power” last year. He was among 300 rights attorneys and campaigners imprisoned in 2015.
Xu Yan, his activist wife, demanded his release, alleging torture and illness in detention. Authorities deny torture.
A source claimed the couple planned to meet with the EU’s visiting top diplomat for Asia, Gunnar Wiegand, EU Ambassador to China Jorge Toledo Albinana, and Chinese civil society groups.
On Friday, the EU delegation in Beijing announced house detention for three more human rights lawyers, Wang Quanzhang, Wang Yu, and Bao Longjun.
The anonymous source stated two of the lawyers attended Thursday’s meeting.
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