Dissidents detained in China

Chinese police have detained a pair of dissident intellectuals ahead of this week’s anniversary of the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, a human rights monitoring group said today.

Officers from the Beijing Public Security Bureau took Hua Huiqi and Liu Fenggang from their homes on Saturday morning, the Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said.

Liu’s wife and two-year-old son were also detained, the Hong Kong-based centre said. None have been heard from since and it is not known where they are being held, it said.

The centre said the action comes as police tighten surveillance on dissidents before Tuesday’s anniversary of the crushing of pro-democracy protests on June 4, 1989.

Hundreds, possibly thousands, of people died when troops from the People’s Liberation Army blasted their way past citizens to end the student protests.

China often detains dissidents during visits by high-level foreign leaders or around sensitive political dates, often holding them in hotels.

The centre said security is tighter than usual this year because the anniversary coincides with China’s debut in the final of soccer’s World Cup, an event greeted with strong nationalism by the

soccer-mad Chinese public.