China Arrests Prominent Businessman Who Backed Rights Causes
The New York Times, 21 October 2013
HONG KONG — The police in Beijing have formally arrested a prominent Chinese businessman who turned his energies and wealth to supporting human rights causes, his lawyer said on Monday. The arrest of the businessman, Wang Gongquan, marked another step in the Communist Party’s drive to deter dissent, supporters said, and notice of the decision came a day before China defends its human rights record at a United Nations hearing.
Mr. Wang’s lawyer, Chen Youxi, said in a brief telephone interview that a police officer had called him to say that on Sunday Mr. Wang had been formally arrested on charges of “assembling a crowd to disrupt order in a public place.” Mr. Wang was detained on the same charges last month, and the decision to formally arrest him will give the police more time to hold him and build a case, on that or other charges.
“I still haven’t received a written notice and there’s no other information yet,” said Mr. Chen, who added that he was traveling abroad and did not want to say more. Calls to Mr. Wang’s wife, Cao Yuping, were not answered. Officers at a detention center in Beijing where supporters have said Mr. Wang is being held would not answer any questions.
Mr. Wang is an unusually prominent and established target for Chinese police officers seeking to stifle political activism: he is a 51-year-old wealthy venture capitalist who made a fortune investing in real estate, high-tech firms and other ventures.
Several years ago, however, Mr. Wang shed the typical reluctance of many Chinese businessmen to openly criticize the government and began supporting advocates seeking broader legal rights, equal treatment of citizens and checks on state power. He is a friend of Xu Zhiyong, a prominent legal advocate in Beijing who was detained in July on the same disruption charges. In neither case have officials publicly explained the specific charges.
Although the Communist Party leadership under Xi Jinping has vowed major economic policy changes, it is wary of any political steps that could invite challenges to one-party rule. On Friday, Xia Yeliang, an economist who has bluntly criticized the party and advocated democratic change, was told that he would lose his professorship at Peking University, one of China’s most prestigious schools, after a committee voted to dismiss him.
Word of Mr. Wang’s formal arrest spread in China after his lawyer, Mr. Chen, posted a message on Sina Weibo, a microblog service similar to Twitter. Even before word of the arrest, 18 prominent liberal Chinese academics, writers and businessmen issued a petition on Monday, over the Internet and by e-mail, demanding Mr. Wang’s release.
“No matter what the name of the crime the authorities try to impose on Mr. Wang Gongquan, it is plain to all that this is nothing more than political persecution,” the petition said.
The government appears to have been alarmed at the example that Mr. Wang set by using his great wealth to support controversial causes, such as campaigning to erase discriminatory barriers that put rural children at a disadvantage in education, said one of the signatories, Liu Suli, a bookstore owner in Beijing who is a friend of Mr. Wang.
“One of the main reasons for arresting Wang Gongquan was that he was using money to support public interest causes,” Mr. Liu said in a telephone interview.
“In the view of the party, they may see that as politics, but in my view that’s a public interest issue,” he said. “A businessman then has to think that if he might be arrested and given a heavy sentence for supporting such issues, then how can I be sure that the cause I support won’t lead to my arrest?”
Chinese officials may be asked to explain the detention and arrest of Mr. Wang and dozens of other politically active citizens at a United Nations meeting in Geneva on Tuesday. The meeting is part of a process, a “Universal Periodic Review,” in which United Nations member states offer their plans to improve human rights and answer questions from other member states.
In reports submitted to the review, many independent Chinese groups and international organizations have decried what they say is the continued use of arbitrary powers to stifle dissent, despite some improvements in China’s legal procedures.