Authorities in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou are continuing to hold human rights lawyer Yang Maodong, better known as Guo Feixiong,  without criminal activists said on 3 October. He was criminally detained on 8 August on charges of “incitement to disturb public order,” after being involved in anti-censorship and anti-corruption protests. ”The authorities have made one arrest after the other in recent months, and this is still going on,” said Beijing-based fellow activist and poetWang Zang, who was among dozens of campaigners who signed a public petition calling for Guo’s release. Wang said those who signed the letter were angry at the ongoing crackdown on activists who have called since March on the highest-ranking ruling Chinese Communist Party leaders to reveal details of their assets, and those of their families. ”We wanted to protest this political oppression, but also to reiterate that Guo Feixong is innocent, and should be released immediately,” he said. ”None of us is safe, and any one of us could be next.“

The overseas-based  Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) said last week it has confirmed the criminal detentions or disappearances of 58 individuals in the ongoing crackdown on anti-corruption activists, half of whom have been formally arrested.  Authorities in Beijing are preparing to try anti-graft activists Yuan Dong, Zhang Baocheng and Ma Xinli for “unlawful assembly” after they held up banners in the street calling on officials to disclose their assets in late March. Hubei activist Liu Jiacai, Shenzhen-based activist Yang Mingyu, known as Yang Lin, and Hunan-based activist Li Huaping, known by his online nickname Nuowei Senlin are also being held in detention centers for similar activities.