At least 12 Chinese labor activists have gone missing in recent days, in what sources close to them believe was a coordinated effort by authorities to sile
SHENZHEN, CHINA – At least 12 Chinese labor activists have gone missing in recent days, in what sources close to them believe was a coordinated effort by authorities to silence the vocal group, most of them university students or recent graduates.
Authorities took away at least nine activists in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen late Friday, and three more activists were taken away Sunday in the city of Wuhan, the sources said.
The Ministry of Public Security, which oversees police forces across the country, did not respond to a faxed request for comment.
The detentions appear to be the latest action by the authorities against a small but growing movement driven by students and graduates of some top universities who have said they are motivated by the principles of Marxism.
The ruling Communist Party, which espouses Marxism as one of its leading ideologies, opposes any form of activism or organization that has the potential to slip beyond its control.
At least five graduates of Peking University, one of the country’s top universities, were among those picked up Friday, student activists said.
Last month, Cornell University in the United States ceased cooperation in two exchange programs with Renmin University, another prominent institution in Beijing, after students there were punished for supporting labor rights.
The young activists attracted attention from authorities in August when about 50 students from across China converged in the south to support factory workers at Jasic International, a welding machinery firm, seeking to form a union.
