Relatives of People Detained for Supporting Hong Kong Protests Appeal for Their Freedom
Family members of about three dozen people detained in China recently for supporting democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong have appealed to the Chinese authorities to release their relatives, saying the charges of “picking quarrels and making trouble” were unjust and “a big insult to the families.”
According to estimates by activists and foreign diplomats, between 50 and 100 people have been detained — some subsequently released but others held — in mainland China since the “Occupy Central With Love and Peace” demonstrations began in Hong Kong in late September. Some of the detained had shaved their heads in support, others held up placards in public. Still others had distributed information about the protests on social media, and others were held in connection with a poetry and art event in support of the demonstrations in the village of Song Zhuang in Beijing in early October.
The Chinese government has made clear in commentaries in People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s newspaper, and other state-run media that it regards the demonstrations as a “color revolution” fomented by “foreign forces.”
But the sweep was described by one art critic visiting Beijing from another major city, Xi’an, as a “red terror,” in a reference to extralegal behavior by the Communist Party authorities. She asked for anonymity because of the political sensitivity of the issue.
