There was widespread detention of human rights lawyers last weekend after more than 100
lawyers across the mainland issued a joint statement protesting against the disappearance
of crusading lawyer Wang Yu. Mainland police detained lawyers and law firm staff and
searched some of their homes and offices. Three human rights groups say that other people
have disappeared. Across 15 cities 57 people were taken away, summoned or detained by
police. One of them, Guangzhou-based lawyer Sui Muqing, was placed under ‘residential
surveillance at a designated location’ - a form of detention - for alleged ‘incitement to
subvert state power’ according to a police document given to his family. Some have since
been released but were warned by police to refrain from publicly voicing their support
for Wang Yu. Since lawyers started openly identifying with human rights causes and
coordinating their advocacy campaigns, they have become the closest thing China has to a
political opposition.