Akhir 12, 1432 / March 17, 2011, SPA -- The extended disappearance of dozens of Chinese dissidents detained last month marks another step in a security crackdown that could culminate in trials and an international outcry over Beijing's hardening grip, according to Reuters. The dissidents were detained before China's annual session of parliament, a sensitive time when authorities routinely round up dissidents and deploy more officers on the streets. The future of Gu Chuan, a 31-year-old writer, and dozens of other detained activists will show how far China's ruling Communist Party intends to drive a campaign against dissent, risking strains over human rights with Washington and other western capitals. Chinese security agents dragged away Gu nearly a month ago. Since then, no one has heard from him, a slight, elfish man accused by police of reposting online messages calling for "Jasmine" protests in Beijing, inspired by uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, his wife Li Xinai told Reuters. Police had warned Gu not to repost messages promoting the "Jasmine" protests, said Li. "But he didn't want to listen to them. He said: 'I have my own freedom, why should I listen to you?'", she recounted. "After that, the policeman told me: 'Don't think this is a small thing. This is very serious, it could be considered incitement to subvert state power.'" Unlike previous years, when many dissidents were released at the end of the official meetings in Beijing, this year many remain in custody. Those still being held include prominent activist lawyers Teng Biao, Jiang Tianyong and Tang Jitian, according to friends and fellow advocates. Repeated calls to the three lawyers went unanswered. When asked about the missing dissidents, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a regular media briefing she had no knowledge of them. The Ministry of Public Security did not respond to a faxed inquiry about some of these dissidents. INCARCERATION FEARS The families of China's detained dissidents and human rights activists fear they face a long period of "extra-judicial" incarceration as the ruling Communist Party clamps down on the risk of unrest, particularly after the online calls for "Jasmine" pro-democracy gatherings. Wang Songlian of Chinese Human Rights Defenders said it was difficult to estimate how many dissidents remain missing, but the group knows of 20 people who have been detained either with formal or verbal notifications since February 19. "This is the worst and widest crackdown we've seen in a long time," said Catherine Baber, Asia-Pacific deputy director of Amnesty International, who has handled human rights issues in China since the early 1990s. Human rights advocates worry that some of those detainees could face formal arrest and trial on charges of political "subversion," marking an escalation of a crackdown that has already drawn criticism from Washington. Zhang Xianling, whose son was killed in the 1989 Tiananmen protests, and others said they are constantly followed by security agents. "It hasn't been this bad for years," said Zhang Xianling. "I've obviously been very successful; they're terrified of me. All I've done is speak the truth, and that's what they are scared of."
