BEIJING (AP) -- The Chinese government must release three prominent dissidents, 190 democracy activists demanded in an open letter Wednesday, saying the arrests run counter to U.N. human rights treaties China has signed over the past 14 months.
The authorities "are deceiving and cheating international public opinion while on the other hand they are suppressing and persecuting domestic political dissidents," said the letter, which was faxed to foreign news agencies.Xu Wenli and another influential dissident, Qin Yongmin, were arrested Monday night in police raids. The sweep was the sternest blow yet to a 5-month campaign to establish an opposition party, the China Democracy Party, which could challenge the ruling Communist Party's monopoly on power.
Qin was arrested for plotting to overthrow the government, a crime that could land him in jail for life. A third Democracy Party advocate, Wang Youcai, already in custody for a month, was also formally arrested Monday.
In Washington, State Department spokesman James P. Rubin called Xu's detention "a serious step in the wrong direction" and called for his release.