Read the story in Mandarin: 人权律师余文生案开庭 王宇前往旁听被带走
Prominent Chinese rights lawyer Yu Wensheng and his wife Xu Yan stood trial on Wednesday in the eastern city of Suzhou for "subversion" amid tight security that saw another prominent attorney taken away by police ahead of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing.
Yu and Xu were initially detained in April 2023 on suspicion of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble" – a charge frequently used to target peaceful critics of the Communist Party – en route to a meeting with European Union officials in Beijing. Brussels has lodging a formal complaint over the incident.
But the pair are now being put on trial for the more serious charge of "incitement to subvert state power" at the Suzhou Intermediate People's Court. Court proceedings were observed by diplomats from 10 countries, the rights website Weiquanwang reported, without giving details.
The trial comes amid tight security across China ahead of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation which runs Sept. 4-6 in Beijing. A prominent rights attorney, Wang Yu, was detained by police in Suzhou shortly after arriving in the city on the first day of Yu's trial, her husband Bao Longjun told RFA Mandarin.
"Wang Yu called me around 7 o'clock this morning," Bao said. "She said she had just left Suzhou station [to meet with a client who is a rights activist], but police blocked him from leaving home."
"I called her again at 10 a.m. but nobody picked up, and I haven't been able to get in touch with her since," he said.
In a later phone call with RFA Mandarin, Bao said police had escorted Wang to meet up with him in the northern city of Handan, where she was released from custody.
‘Key personnel’
President Xi Jinping will deliver a keynote address at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation next week, setting out proposals for "building a high-level community with a shared future for China and Africa," Vice Foreign Minister Chen Xiaodong told a news conference last week.
The security measures target critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party known as "key personnel," according to a Beijing resident who gave only the surname Guo for fear of reprisals.
"Security has been very strict in our residential community lately, and they're saying they have to guard against key personnel," Guo said. "I know something big is happening in Beijing."
According to state media and official websites, the term "key personnel" applies to anyone posing a potential threat to public order, national security or disease control and prevention policies, and means an individual is targeted for "monitoring, prevention measures and management by police."
Represented Falun Gong
Yu is a prominent rights attorney who has represented members of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement, as well as many fellow rights attorneys in the wake of a July 2015 crackdown on public interest law firms and associated rights activists.
He served an earlier four-year sentence for "subversion" that ended in 2021.
Xu has repeatedly spoken out on her husband's behalf, and was threatened with prosecution after meeting with French officials in 2018 about her husband's case.
Rights groups have warned that both were at risk of torture to elicit a "confession" during detention.
Yu and Xu are being represented by defense attorneys Ge Wenxiu and He Wei at the two-day trial, Weiquanwang reported.
24-hour surveillance
Meanwhile, authorities in Beijing are holding Zhou Shifeng, the former director of the Beijing Fengrui law firm that was shuttered following the July 2015 crackdown, under close surveillance, prompting him to flee the capital for his hometown in Henan province.
"They're about to hold the China-Africa Forum in Beijing, and security guards were put on duty downstairs from Zhou Shifeng's home," his friend Zhang Ning told RFA Mandarin on Wednesday.
"There were private security guards, state security police, and officers from the local police station, five people on each eight-hour shift," Zhang said. "Shifeng had to tell them where he was going, and the state security police would drive him there and escort him."
Zhang said Zhou had eventually chosen to leave the capital and return to his hometown in Anyang city, Henan, in the hope of evading further official attention.
Police have also been closely watching independent political commentator Wu Qiang since late July, according to a friend of his who gave only the surname Li for fear of reprisals.
"There are two police vehicles stationed in the residential community where Wu Qiang lives, 24 hours a day," Li said. "They follow him whenever he goes out."
Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.