U.S. Calls on China to Free Detained Human Rights Advocates

The U.S. State Department urged China to release human rights advocates detained by Communist Party authorities in recent days and accused of conspiring to “create social chaos.”

State Department spokesman John Kirby expressed U.S. alarm at the detentions, which Chinese state media said were meant to break a “rights-defense” movement suspected of instigating protests to manipulate opinion and influence court rulings. The crackdown comes days after China’s parliament passed a sweeping national security law vowing to “defend the people’s democratic dictatorship” and preserve “social tranquility.”