China Internet Users Concerned About Recent Arrest

[Guest LilBambi]

China Internet Users Concerned About Recent Arrests

In China, a recent spate of arrests of Internet users is raising concerns that authorities may be targeting average people and accusing them of subversion. The trend marks a departure from the past, when police crackdowns focused on prominent dissidents. Before her arrest more than a year ago, Liu Di was a university psychology student virtually unknown to all but a few Internet users who read her postings, in which she talked about everything from the human psyche to contemporary literature. Now, the young woman has been jailed as a dissident for more than a year and has become the center of international attention as human rights activists push for her release. No charges have been filed against her. Before her arrest, 23-year-old Liu Di lived with her grandmother, Liu Heng. Mrs. Liu is a retired journalist who herself was thrown in prison in 1957 after the government of Communist leader Mao Zedong labeled her an "incorrigible rightist." Speaking briefly before her telephone went dead, she said her granddaughter does not fit the mold of a radical student activist. "I'm still not sure about the whole situation. However, I think she made some mistakes," says Mrs. Liu. " What mistakes she made, I'm still not sure about. The government was suspicious and arrested her.

Liu Di's detention has raised fear that anyone could be arrested, especially at a time when rising unemployment and other social problems are driving many young people to vent their concerns on the Internet.