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TUESDAY,FEBRUARY18,2020 | THEGLOBEANDMAILO NEWS | A

He portrayed China’s leader, Xi
Jinping, as hungry for power. He
accused Mr. Xi of trying to cover
up the coronavirus outbreak in
central China. In one of his most
daring writings, he urged Mr. Xi
to resign, saying, “You’re just not
smart enough.”
Then, over the weekend, Xu
Zhiyong, a prominent Chinese
legal activist, went silent. Author-
ities in the southern city of
Guangzhou detained him Satur-
day, according to Mr. Xu’s friends,
after he spent nearly two months
in hiding. His girlfriend, Li Qiao-
chu, a social activist, went mis-
sing Sunday, Mr. Xu’s friends said.
The activist is the latest critic
to be caught up in Mr. Xi’s far-
reaching efforts to limit dissent
in China. The crackdown, which
has ensnared scores of activists,
lawyers, journalists and intellec-
tuals, is likely to intensify as the
ruling Communist Party comes
under broad attack for its hand-
ling of the coronavirus outbreak,
one of its biggest political chal-
lenges in years.
Mr. Xu, a 46-year-old former
university lecturer, has long
railed againstgovernment cor-
ruption and social injustice in
China. He went into hiding in De-
cember as police began rounding
up human-rights activists who
met with him in the eastern city
of Xiamen.
While in hiding, Mr. Xu contin-
ued to publish blunt critiques of
Mr. Xi on social media, accusing
him of leading a dictatorship.
He also criticized Mr. Xi’s
handling of the outbreak in the
central province of Hubei that
has killed 1,873 people in China
and sickened more than 71,

In one of his last writings before

he was detained, Mr. Xu

mourned the death of a doctor in

Wuhan whom police had si-

lenced after he warned about the

virus.

“In their hearts,” Mr. Xu said of

party leaders, “there is no right

and wrong, no conscience, no

bottom line, no humanity.”

Mr. Xu, a firebrand who has

spent decades pushing for politi-

cal changes, has long clashed

with the Chinesegovernment.

He was sentenced to four years

in prison in 2014 for “gathering a

crowd to disturb public order,” a

charge that stemmed from his

role organizing the New Citizens

Movement, a grassroots effort

against corruption and social

injustice in Chinese society.

It is unclear what charges au-

thorities may bring against Mr.

Xu. The circumstances of the dis-

appearance of his girlfriend, Ms.

Li, were also ambiguous. Police in

Guangzhou did not immediately

respond to a request for com-

ment.

Mr. Xu’s friends defended his

actions.

“It is within the scope of free-

dom of speech under the Chinese

constitution,” said Hua Ze, an ac-

tivist based in New Jersey and a

friend of Mr. Xu who confirmed

his detention.

Faced with growing public an-

ger over the coronavirus out-

break, China’s President has cited

a need to “strengthen the guid-

ance of public opinion,” a term

that often refers to blocking inde-

pendent news reporting and cen-

soring critical comments on Chi-

nese social media.

Many free-speech activists

worry that the party, which is

concerned about maintaining its

control, is tightening the reins of

public discourse despite a grow-

ing perception that the silencing

of doctors and others who tried

to raise alarms has enabled the

virus to spread more widely.

Two video bloggers who at-

tracted wide attention for their

dispatches from Wuhan, the ep-

icentre of the outbreak, have

gone missing.

Yaqiu Wang, a China research-

er at Human Rights Watch, an ad-

vocacy organization, said the de-

tention of Mr. Xu showed that au-

thorities had no intention of

loosening restrictions on speech.

“The Chinese government per-

sists in its old ways: silencing its

critics rather than listening to

people who promote rights-re-

specting policies that actually

solve problems,” she said.

NEWYORKTIMESNEWSSERVICE

ActivistwhoaccusedXiofcover-updetained

XuZhiyongisone

ofmanycriticswho

havedenounced

China’shandlingof

COVID-19outbreak

LegalactivistandformeruniversitylecturerXuZhiyong,seenin2009,wentintohidinginDecemberas

Chinesepolicebegandetaininghuman-rightsactivistswhometwithhiminXiamen.GREGBAKER/AP

JAVIERHERNANDEZ TRAVISAIRFORCEBASE,
CALIF./GENEVAMorethan
Americancruiselinerpassen-
gers,including14whotested
positiveforcoronavirus,were
flownhometomilitarybasesin
theUnitedStatesaftertwo
weeksunderquarantineoff
Japan.
Thecruiseship,Diamond
Princess,hasbecomethebig-
gesttestsofarofothercoun-
tries’abilitytocontainanout-
breakthathaskilled1,
peopleinChinaandfiveelse-
where.
Agroundcrewinanti-contam-
inationsuitsmetthechartered
jetthattoucheddownatJoint
BaseSanAntonioinTexas,and
passengerscouldbeseenclimb-
ingdownthestairswearingface
masksinthepredawnmist.
AnotherflightlandedatTravis
AirForceBaseinCaliforniahours
earlier.Allthepassengerswere
takenintoatwo-weekquaran-
tine.
AlthoughU.S.officialshadsaid
passengerswithcoronavirus
symptomswouldnotbere-
patriated,14passengersfoundat
thelastminutetohavetested
positivewerepermittedtoboard
theplanes.TheU.S.StateDepart-
mentsaidtheinfectedpas-
sengerswereexposedtoother
passengersforabout40minutes
beforetheywereisolated.
Aroundhalfofallknowncases
ofthevirusoutsideChinahave
beenfoundaboardtheDiamond
Princess,whichwasorderedto
stayunderquarantineattheport
ofYokohamaonFeb.3.
Severalothercountrieshave
announcedplanstofollowthe
U.S.inbringingpassengers
home.
REUTERS

HUNDREDSOF

AMERICANS,INCLUDING

SEVERALWITH

CORONAVIRUS,FLOWN

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