Protesters Blast Beijing Over Activist's Detention

Around 20 activists have held a protest outside Beijing's liaison office in Western, accusing mainland authorities of abusing the wife of a lawyer detained in a nationwide crackdown in 2015 on human rights advocates.

Li Wenzu had marched from the capital to Tianjin to publicise the disappearance of her husband Wang Quanzhang – who has been missing for more than a thousand days. But activists said Li was detained on Monday and reportedly sent back to Beijing.

The Civic Party and the League of Social Democrats (LSD) which staged Tuesday's protest, called on the mainland authorities to stop suppressing Li. They also demanded the immediate release of all human rights campaigners in the country.

“Li Wenzu has the right to ask for her husband’s status, her march to Tianjin was her last resort, so I think when Xi Jinping was talking about the uprising of China and the rule of law, he should do it by example, rather than the opposite”, said LSD Chairman Avery Ng.

Ng told RTHK's Damon Pang that China is taking a giant step backward, instead of becoming a civilised and just society.

Wang was among lawyers and activists taken away in an operation known as the "709 crackdown", with some of those detained later accused of subversion.