Another Chinese Human Rights Lawyer Disappears
A prominent Chinese human rights lawyer is missing. At least two other lawyers who have spoken out against the government have recently run into trouble with authorities, and activists now fear a third, Teng Biao, has been detained.
Teng never returned home Thursday evening; witnesses said they saw a man in front of his home being dragged into a black car, the Associated Press reports.
Teng had supported and admired lawyer Hu Jia, who has been detained on charges of inciting subversion of state power. Hu and Teng had co-written an open letter that said China had not lived up to its promise to improve human rights before the Olympic games.
Teng told the Guardian before he went missing that he feared arrest. He told the newspaper that authorities had told him to stop criticizing the government, seized his passport, and tapped his phones.
Another human rights lawyer, Zheng Enchong, was beaten and detained by authorities in February. He had spoken out about government corruption involving real-estate deals in Shanghai.
