Great Regulars: Authorities in Beijing have formally detained

a veteran human rights activist after he posted a photo of the 1989 student demonstrations in the capital on a popular Internet chat service.

Bai Dongping, a former worker activist and now a prominent legal advocate for petitioners, was detained by police on Saturday on suspicion of "incitement to subvert state power," his wife said.

from Luisetta Mudie: Radio Free Asia: Activist Held Over Tiananmen Photo

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The Vatican said the ordination was "a serious violation" of Catholic discipline and "offends the Holy Father."

It was the first time since 2006 that China's Catholic Church is known to have appointed bishops without approval from Rome.

from Luisetta Mudie: Radio Free Asia: China, Vatican Spar Over Bishop

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"He is being released at an unusual time," Li [Jinfang, Qin Yongmin's ex-wife] said. "I am worried that even though he comes home, they still won't let him have his freedom back completely, or that they might keep him cut off from the outside world."

Li said the police had also questioned her about articles she might have written.

"There were two people there and they asked me what I'd been doing lately. I said that I'd been sitting at home waiting for them to unfreeze the money," she said.

from Luisetta Mudie: Radio Free Asia: Police Freeze Dissident's Assets

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International human rights groups have called on the United Nations to declare Liu [Xiaobo]'s 2009 conviction for subversion to be in contravention of international law.

Lawyers working on Liu's behalf registered a petition with the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on Nov. 4.

The prison term being served by Liu and the house arrest imposed on his wife, Liu Xia, "shocks the conscience," said Maran Turner, executive director of Freedom Now, the group providing the lawyers for the Nobel winner.

from Luisetta Mudie: Radio Free Asia: Pressure Ahead of Nobel Event

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Beijing-based blogger and poet Woeser lost access to her Gmail account and her personal blog, "The Middle Way," she said Tuesday.

"A friend called me at about 9:00 a.m. and told me that they couldn't get onto my blog," Woeser said.

"We couldn't find it . . . I am pretty sure it's certain Chinese [government] people who did this."

She said her access to Twitter, where she is known by the username @Degewa, and Facebook was also temporarily hijacked, but later regained with the help of online friends and supporters.

from Luisetta Mudie: Radio Free Asia: Tibetan Writer's Blog Hacked

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