In the latest development in a continuing crackdown on civil society activism and workers rights advocacy, authorities have recently detained two more labor activists in the Guangdong province, an industrial hub in southern China. Prominent feminist activist Zheng Churan told AFP’s Eva Xiao that her husband Wei Zhili, editor at a labor rights website, was detained on Wednesday for “disturbing public order”:

“I and his parents are very worried,” Zheng told AFP over the phone. “I am very afraid that the police will use abusive methods to force him to admit that he did something wrong.”

[…] Citing Wei’s parents, who were present when her husband was detained, Zheng said police told them their son had been “brainwashed” into helping workers and that they were taking him away to “educate” him, without specifying where.

They also searched his parents’ home, where Wei had been staying, and took away his laptop and cellphone, she added.

[…] According to Zheng, her husband had also been in touch with workers from central Hunan province, specifically those suffering from pneumoconiosis, a type of lung disease they contracted while working in Shenzhen due to unsafe working conditions. [Source]