by Wang Zhicheng

Tang had defended villagers and others against corrupt leaders who had seized their land. For this, his licence to practice law was not renewed. As a defender of religious freedom, he has accused Xi Jinping's administration of cracking down on anything that looks like a challenge to the power of the Party. Other activists and a former soldier in Tiananmen Square are also detained.

Beijing (AsiaNews) - Human rights lawyer Tang Jinling was arrested yesterday in Guangzhou in the endless series of arrests leading up to the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre (pictured).

Some blogs reported the arrest yesterday. Eight police officers entered Tang's home at 10 am yesterday. They held the lawyer, searched the flat and seized personal computers, three mobile phones, and an address book, his wife Wang Yanfang said. He was then arrested on suspicion of "starting quarrels and provoking trouble".

This charge is similar to the one that led to the arrests last week of several academics and activists who were attending a private forum on Tiananmen.

Recently, police also arrested two prominent journalists, Xian Nanfu and Gao Yu, and other leading figures, including Qu Zhenhong, niece and aide to lawyer Pu Zhiqiang (who was detained last week for attending the aforementioned forum) and Chen Guang, a former People's Liberation Army soldier. Deployed in 1989 near Tiananmen Square, he later left the army and urged the authorities to allow unfettered discussion of the crackdown.

Tang gained prominence when he represented villagers seeking to impeach local officials over corruption. The effort failed, and his licence to practice law was not renewed.

Tang then became actively involved with people reporting and fighting corruption as well defending religions freedom.

A few weeks ago, he signed a statement issued at Purdue University (Indiana, US), calling on the authorities not to intervene in the affairs of the China's religious communities.

Tang told Radio Free Asia that the situation for believers in China has become more difficult.

"I think that it's very obvious that religious freedom has suffered a major setback in the past year," Tang said. "It's not just local level implementation, but right across the board," he said in a clear reference to church demolition in Wenzhou.

Tang blames Xi Jinping's administration's tougher line against anything that might potentially challenge to the power of the Party.

"In their ideology," he explained, "they probably believe that independent religion can't benefit the regime."

Other reports confirm that lawyer Liu Shihui was arrested in Shanghai. According to his girlfriend, Liu was wearing a black shirt commemorating the 1989 pro-democracy movement on his way to meet a dissident.

• china
• arrest
• tiananmen
• crackdown
• tang