China has been intensifying pressure on some prominent dissidents in recent weeks, as local prosecutors decide whether to impose jail sentences on human rights lawyer Lu Siwei, and police repeatedly threaten to arrest citizen journalist Zhang Zhan again.
Some human rights advocates say the renewed threats against Lu and Zhang are part of a broader campaign by the government to intensify crackdowns on activists and human rights lawyers.
“Beijing is trying to warn dissidents that if they try to defend the rule of law or freedom of expression, they could be arrested or imprisoned,” Bob Fu, founder of the Texas-based human rights organization ChinaAid, told VOA by phone.
Lu’s wife, Zhang Chunxiao, who now lives in the U.S., tells VOA that Chinese police in the southwestern province of Sichuan have imposed strict restrictions on her husband since he was released on bail in October, putting him under 24-hour surveillance and barring him from leaving the city of Chengdu without approval.
“The authorities have deployed eight to nine people to monitor him around the clock and he is followed by someone whether he is taking the metro or getting into a taxi,” she told VOA by phone.
Update on Chinese human rights lawyer Lu Siwei. He enjoys relative” freedom”, after being deported from Laos to China & detained for a month.
He has to live at designated place & heavily monitored wherever he goes. Hard to find a job. Health deterioated. Can’t see family. https://t.co/3JEZrO2p9z
— Kris Cheng (@krislc) July 28, 2024
Lu, a prominent human rights lawyer who has handled several high-profile cases, tried to flee China last year in July and reunite with his family in the United States by traveling through Southeast Asia last. Despite holding a valid U.S. visa and Chinese passport, he was arrested and detained by Laotian police and later deported back to China.
Zhang said the constant surveillance has made Lu feel isolated and experience serious mood swings.
“Almost everyone around him, including his friends and family members, has cut off contact with him so he is in a very bad mental state,” Zhang added.
In addition to surveillance and restrictions on his movement, the police told Lu last month that Chengdu prosecutors were reviewing his case and would determine whether to charge him with a crime or not later.
Chinese dissidents face renewed government imprisonment threats
