(New York) \u2013 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe detention of four anti-corruption activists calls into question President Xi Jinping\u2019s commitment to get tough on graft,\u201d said Sophie Richardson, China director, \u201cThe government\u2019s treatment of these activists is a litmus test about whether Xi\u2019s campaign to end China\u2019s corruption epidemic is more than mere rhetoric and a few show cases.\u201d<\/p>\n
Police in Beijing arrested the activists \u2013 Hou Xin, Yuan Dong, Zhang Baocheng and Ma Xinli \u2013 on March 31, 2013. The four were displaying large banners with slogans such as \u201crequire officials to publicly disclose assets\u201d and \u201cunless we put an end to corrupt officials, the China Dream can only be daydreams.\u201d The activists also gave a speech about the need to address corruption in Xidan Cultural Plaza in Beijing\u2019s Xicheng District.<\/p>\n
Police arrested them for \u201cillegal assembly,\u201d which carries a penalty of up to five years in prison. Yuan, Zhang, and Ma are being held in Beijing\u2019s 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\u2019s office for a formal arrest.<\/p>\n
Xi opened a high-profile campaign against graft and promised to \u201cresolutely fight against corruption and other misconduct in all manifestations.\u201d He warned that corruption, if left unchecked, will lead to the \u201cthe collapse of the party and the downfall of the state.\u201d Most importantly, he said he would target both \u201ctigers and flies\u201d \u2013 powerful leaders as well as those lower down in the hierarchy \u2013 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 \u201cbreaching party discipline.\u201d<\/p>\n