(New York) – The Chinese government should immediately release four activists detained after calling for requiring government officials to disclose their assets publicly, Human Rights Watch said today. The detentions are the harshest action yet against activists involved in a grass-roots campaign to press the government to honor its promise to fight corruption.

“The detention of four anti-corruption activists calls into question President Xi Jinping’s commitment to get tough on graft,” said Sophie Richardson, China director, “The government’s treatment of these activists is a litmus test about whether Xi’s campaign to end China’s corruption epidemic is more than mere rhetoric and a few show cases.”

Police in Beijing arrested the activists – Hou Xin, Yuan Dong, Zhang Baocheng and Ma Xinli – on March 31, 2013. The four were displaying large banners with slogans such as “require officials to publicly disclose assets” and “unless we put an end to corrupt officials, the China Dream can only be daydreams.” The activists also gave a speech about the need to address corruption in Xidan Cultural Plaza in Beijing’s Xicheng District.

Police arrested them for “illegal assembly,” which carries a penalty of up to five years in prison. Yuan, Zhang, and Ma are being held in Beijing’s No. 3 Detention Center, while Hou is in No. 1 Detention Center. Under Chinese law, anyone accused of a crime is entitled to a lawyer within 48 hours of being taken into police custody. The police may detain a person for 37 days before they are required to obtain permission from the prosecutor’s office for a formal arrest.

Xi opened a high-profile campaign against graft and promised to “resolutely fight against corruption and other misconduct in all manifestations.” He warned that corruption, if left unchecked, will lead to the “the collapse of the party and the downfall of the state.” Most importantly, he said he would target both “tigers and flies” – powerful leaders as well as those lower down in the hierarchy – in the anti-corruption drive. In the past four months, a series of officials have been investigated and dismissed for lavish spending and corruption. Most notably, a high-level Sichuan official, Li Chuncheng, who was part of the powerful Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, was detained for “breaching party discipline.”

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