Chinese activist and lawyer Xu Zhiyong [5] was arrested by authorities July 17 on suspicion of having "gathered crowds to disrupt public order." Xu, a law lecturer at the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications [6] and founder of the Open Constitution Initiative [7] (Gongmeng [8]), was placed under house arrest [9] on April 12. Xu's arrest came after President Xi Jinping [10] pledged to increase efforts to combat government corruption. Xu was previously detained [11] by Chinese police in 2009 on charges of tax evasion. Coinciding with Xu's arrest, earlier this week Wang Wenzhi, a reporter for the official Xinhua News Agency [12], accused China Resources (Holdings) [13] chairman Song Lin of corruption. The article was later removed.
From Jurist [14], July 18. Used with permission.
