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| Chinese Scholar Who Helped in an Escape Is Detained for ‘Picking Quarrels’ | |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| BEIJING — Guo Yushan, a Chinese scholar and social reform advocate, suspected his days as a free man might be numbered. | BEIJING — Guo Yushan, a Chinese scholar and social reform advocate, suspected his days as a free man might be numbered. |
| Having played a key role in helping Chen Guangcheng, the blind legal activist, escape house arrest in 2012 — an international imbroglio that ended with Mr. Chen and his family gaining asylum in the United States — Mr. Guo said it was only a matter of time before he received his comeuppance for having embarrassed the Chinese government. | Having played a key role in helping Chen Guangcheng, the blind legal activist, escape house arrest in 2012 — an international imbroglio that ended with Mr. Chen and his family gaining asylum in the United States — Mr. Guo said it was only a matter of time before he received his comeuppance for having embarrassed the Chinese government. |
| “My friends joke that the Communist Party owes me a jail sentence,” he said in an interview last fall, shortly after emerging from an 81-day stretch of “soft detention” confined to his home on the outskirts of the capital. | “My friends joke that the Communist Party owes me a jail sentence,” he said in an interview last fall, shortly after emerging from an 81-day stretch of “soft detention” confined to his home on the outskirts of the capital. |
| At 2 a.m. on Thursday, friends say, Mr. Guo was led away from his apartment by more than a dozen security agents, who also confiscated his computer, hard drives and documents. | At 2 a.m. on Thursday, friends say, Mr. Guo was led away from his apartment by more than a dozen security agents, who also confiscated his computer, hard drives and documents. |
| Mr. Guo’s apparent crime, according to friends, was “picking quarrels and provoking troubles,” the catchall charge that the Chinese authorities have been using with growing frequency in an effort to silence perceived enemies. | Mr. Guo’s apparent crime, according to friends, was “picking quarrels and provoking troubles,” the catchall charge that the Chinese authorities have been using with growing frequency in an effort to silence perceived enemies. |
| It is not clear what prompted his detention, but Mr. Guo could simply be the latest victim of a wide-ranging crackdown on dissent that has picked up steam since pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong began a campaign of civil disobedience two weeks ago. More than 50 people have been detained across China this month, including 10 people in Beijing who last week attended a private poetry reading, disrupted by the police, that was billed as an expression of solidarity with the protesters in Hong Kong. | It is not clear what prompted his detention, but Mr. Guo could simply be the latest victim of a wide-ranging crackdown on dissent that has picked up steam since pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong began a campaign of civil disobedience two weeks ago. More than 50 people have been detained across China this month, including 10 people in Beijing who last week attended a private poetry reading, disrupted by the police, that was billed as an expression of solidarity with the protesters in Hong Kong. |
| “If this is related to Occupy Central, there’s a big possibility he will lose his freedom,” said Li Fangping, a rights lawyer, referring to the protests in Hong Kong, which Chinese leaders fear could spread beyond the former British colony. | |
| But on Sunday, Mr. Guo’s friends said they were puzzled by his detention because he had deliberately kept a low profile in the year since the authorities shut down the independent research institute he had helped run. As far as they knew, Mr. Guo had refrained from making any public gestures in support of the demonstrations in Hong Kong. “He is very courageous yet extremely rational, gentle, and has a very strong awareness of the law,” said Chen Min, a friend and journalist who is better known by the pen name Xiao Shu. “His remarks and his activities are completely within the law.” | But on Sunday, Mr. Guo’s friends said they were puzzled by his detention because he had deliberately kept a low profile in the year since the authorities shut down the independent research institute he had helped run. As far as they knew, Mr. Guo had refrained from making any public gestures in support of the demonstrations in Hong Kong. “He is very courageous yet extremely rational, gentle, and has a very strong awareness of the law,” said Chen Min, a friend and journalist who is better known by the pen name Xiao Shu. “His remarks and his activities are completely within the law.” |
| In addition to helping Mr. Chen make his way into the United States Embassy in Beijing two years ago, Mr. Guo is best known for association with the Transition Institute. Largely financed through grants from foreign foundations, the institute produced well-regarded studies on China’s taxi industry, the environmental repercussions of the mammoth Three Gorges Dam, and the household registration system that is deeply unpopular among rural migrants who settle in Chinese cities but are denied a variety of social welfare and education benefits. | In addition to helping Mr. Chen make his way into the United States Embassy in Beijing two years ago, Mr. Guo is best known for association with the Transition Institute. Largely financed through grants from foreign foundations, the institute produced well-regarded studies on China’s taxi industry, the environmental repercussions of the mammoth Three Gorges Dam, and the household registration system that is deeply unpopular among rural migrants who settle in Chinese cities but are denied a variety of social welfare and education benefits. |
| But since President Xi Jinping came to power more than two years ago, the red line of what is considered permissible has been shifting. In recent months, scores of journalists, rights defenders and moderate advocates of political reform have been swept up in a widening dragnet. Many of those detained have been charged with the same crime of “picking quarrels and provoking troubles” that Mr. Guo is now facing, although it is possible he could be released after days or weeks in police custody. | But since President Xi Jinping came to power more than two years ago, the red line of what is considered permissible has been shifting. In recent months, scores of journalists, rights defenders and moderate advocates of political reform have been swept up in a widening dragnet. Many of those detained have been charged with the same crime of “picking quarrels and provoking troubles” that Mr. Guo is now facing, although it is possible he could be released after days or weeks in police custody. |
| Jerome A. Cohen, an expert on Chinese law at New York University, said the crackdown appeared to be at odds with Mr. Xi’s stated vow to promote legal reforms, the focus of a key party meeting to be held later this month. “It’s rather ironic that the repression is intensifying at the very moment the party is talking about the need for rule of law,” Mr. Cohen said. | Jerome A. Cohen, an expert on Chinese law at New York University, said the crackdown appeared to be at odds with Mr. Xi’s stated vow to promote legal reforms, the focus of a key party meeting to be held later this month. “It’s rather ironic that the repression is intensifying at the very moment the party is talking about the need for rule of law,” Mr. Cohen said. |
| The authorities shut Mr. Guo’s institute last year, not long after the arrest of Xu Zhiyong, a legal advocate and longtime friend, who was later sentenced to four years for his role in a grass-roots anti-corruption campaign. At the time, Mr. Guo said he was unsure why the authorities had moved against his institute and confiscated its publications, but thought it was likely related to his association with Mr. Xu and his New Citizens Movement. Officials told him the institute could reopen at a later date, as long as he was no longer involved. | The authorities shut Mr. Guo’s institute last year, not long after the arrest of Xu Zhiyong, a legal advocate and longtime friend, who was later sentenced to four years for his role in a grass-roots anti-corruption campaign. At the time, Mr. Guo said he was unsure why the authorities had moved against his institute and confiscated its publications, but thought it was likely related to his association with Mr. Xu and his New Citizens Movement. Officials told him the institute could reopen at a later date, as long as he was no longer involved. |
| Speaking at a cafe last October, Mr. Guo said he supported Mr. Xu’s goal of promoting greater government transparency but disagreed with his tactics, which included small rallies during which participants held up banners calling on public officials to disclose their financial assets. “He crossed a red line and took his cause to the streets,” he said. | Speaking at a cafe last October, Mr. Guo said he supported Mr. Xu’s goal of promoting greater government transparency but disagreed with his tactics, which included small rallies during which participants held up banners calling on public officials to disclose their financial assets. “He crossed a red line and took his cause to the streets,” he said. |
| Still, Mr. Guo directed much of his anger at China’s leader, Mr. Xi, who he believed was intent on silencing not just advocates of political reform but also those seeking to address China’s most intractable social problems through nongovernmental organizations. That strategy, he predicted, would likely backfire. “Xi’s not addressing the needs and frustrations of the people, and crushing people like us who are trying to improve society,” he said. “We will be left with chaos.” | Still, Mr. Guo directed much of his anger at China’s leader, Mr. Xi, who he believed was intent on silencing not just advocates of political reform but also those seeking to address China’s most intractable social problems through nongovernmental organizations. That strategy, he predicted, would likely backfire. “Xi’s not addressing the needs and frustrations of the people, and crushing people like us who are trying to improve society,” he said. “We will be left with chaos.” |
| Having just emerged from almost three months of house arrest, Mr. Guo was skittish about talking to a foreign journalist but determined to continue his work as a social reformer. Still, he expressed concern that the police would make good on a threat, delivered during an earlier interrogation, that he would at some point be punished for helping Mr. Chen escape house arrest and sneak into the United States Embassy. | Having just emerged from almost three months of house arrest, Mr. Guo was skittish about talking to a foreign journalist but determined to continue his work as a social reformer. Still, he expressed concern that the police would make good on a threat, delivered during an earlier interrogation, that he would at some point be punished for helping Mr. Chen escape house arrest and sneak into the United States Embassy. |
| “We are in the midst of a very dark time,” he said, “and it’s only going to get worse.” | “We are in the midst of a very dark time,” he said, “and it’s only going to get worse.” |