China arrests book club members
Monday, May 7, 2001
©2001 Associated Press
(05-07) 00:27 PDT BEIJING (AP) -- Chinese police arrested eight members of a book club that failed to ask for official permission to meet, the wife of one of those detained said Monday.
The eight were arrested Saturday during their monthly meeting in Shaodong, a rural county in southern Hunan province, said the wife of club founder Xiao Qingming. She declined to give her name in a telephone interview.
Four were released Sunday. But the other four, including Xiao, remained in custody, she said. Police told her that they will hold them for at least two weeks, she said.
Police did not explain the arrests, but Xiao's wife said she thought it was because the book club had not registered with authorities before meeting.
The ruling Communist Party tries to control most organizations in China, from labor unions to churches. Chinese law requires organized social groups to register with the government.
The wife said Xiao thought the book club was exempt because it was an informal circle of friends who met just once a month. She said they only discussed books that had been legally published in China.
The club was careful to bar anti-government critics from joining, she said.
Police and Shaodong county authorities refused to comment.
Xiao is a former middle school teacher who quit working a few years ago to help look after their child, she said.
A Hong Kong-based human rights group described the others as intellectuals and said some were middle school teachers.
©2001 Associated Press
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