Local authorities yesterday seized a rural activist who has been leading a high-profile legal campaign against the use of forced sterilization and abortion in China, in an apparent effort to block him from meeting with senior government officials who had expressed support for his cause.
The detention of Chen Guangcheng, 34, a blind peasant who has been preparing a class-action lawsuit to challenge population-control abuses in the eastern city of Linyi, occurred a few days after he arrived in Beijing for meetings with lawyers and journalists.
In March, residents say, the Linyi government launched a crackdown, requiring parents with two children to be sterilized and forcing women pregnant with a third child to have abortions. Residents say officials have also been detaining family members of those who flee, beating them and holding them hostage until their relatives return and submit to the operations.
Chen's attempt to organize a class-action lawsuit against Linyi – a milestone in a nation where the one-child policy has long been considered off-limits to public debate – was reported Aug. 27 in The Washington Post. At the time, officials in Beijing said the practices described by Linyi residents were illegal and voiced support for the lawsuit.
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