2 Activists Are Under House Arrest and Barred From Leaving China

By Joseph Kahn | The New York Times
May 19, 2007

A young Chinese couple who have promoted a variety of delicate social and political causes were barred from leaving the country on Friday and placed under house arrest, the couple said.

The police barred Hu Jia, 33, and his wife, Zeng Jinyan, 23, from departing from Beijing on a trip to Hong Kong and several European countries, Mr. Hu said. The couple had planned to call attention to what they described as a neglect of AIDS patients and to defend other Chinese campaigners for human rights who had been prosecuted in recent months.

Mr. Hu said the police told him that he and Ms. Zeng were suspected of “endangering national security” and would be required to stay in their home under police watch for an indefinite period.

“Officials are worried that we would set off opposition to Beijing’s hosting of the Olympics,” Mr. Hu said. State security officials almost never offer any information about their activities, but the city is the venue for the 2008 Summer Games and intends to use the event to present China as a sophisticated, modern country that is open to the outside world.

In another indication of the sensitivity of the Games to China, Yang Jiechi, the country’s new foreign minister, on Friday denounced efforts in the United States to link support for Beijing’s serving as host of the Olympics to its policies in Sudan.

China has been criticized for giving strong financial and diplomatic backing to the government of Sudan, which the Bush administration and critics worldwide say has practiced genocide in its southern Darfur region while waging a war against secessionists there. “There is a handful of people who are trying to politicize the Olympic Games,” Mr. Yang told reporters. “This is against the spirit of the Games. It also runs counter to the aspirations of all the people in the world.”

A group of 108 members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to the Chinese government last week warning that China must use its influence with Sudan’s government to improve the situation in Darfur or face a possible backlash against its serving as host of the Games. Leading Hollywood personalities have also warned China that it could face a boycott of the Games unless it puts more pressure on Sudan.

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