China 'Detains' More Dissidents

EIJING, Dec. 13 - The Chinese police on Monday afternoon detained three leading intellectuals who have been critical of the government, apparently stepping up a campaign to silence public dissent.

Yu Jie and Liu Xiaobo, literary figures, and Zhang Zuhua, a political theorist, were detained in raids at their homes. Mr. Yu is suspected of "participating in activities harmful to the state," said his wife, Liu Min.

The detentions were the latest in a string of arrests and official harassment of journalists, writers and scholars who have spoken out against government policies or written articles or essays that officials have deemed damaging.

Jiao Guobiao, a journalism professor at Beijing University, wrote a scathing criticism of the Propaganda Department earlier this year. He was recently stripped of his teaching responsibilities. Wang Guangze, an editor at the state-run 21st Century Business Herald, was fired. He'd just returned from a speaking in the United States where he'd discussed how the Internet was affecting China's politics. You'll remember that China has recently blocked the use of Google throughout the country.

In September, the authorities also arrested Zhao Yan, a well-known local journalist who worked as an employee of the New York Times bureau in Beijing, on charges of providing state secrets to foreigners. Some of Mr. Zhao's friends say they believe that State Security officials are seeking to tie Mr. Zhao to an article published in The Times that reported an offer by Mr. Jiang to retire two weeks before the leadership change was announced.

"The steps the authorities have taken are not by coincidence," said an editor at a major state-run newspaper who asked not to be identified. "This is a new era, but right now we're moving backward."

Since President Hu Jintao replaced Jiang Zemin as China's military chief in September, leaving Mr. Hu in full command of China's government, ruling party and army, analysts say the political environment has become more repressive. The scope for discussing sensitive topics in the state-run media has decreased, they said, while the authorities appear intent on punishing people who violate unwritten rules about the limits on free speech.

The crackdown could signal an effort by Mr. Hu to dispel hopes - already greatly diminished - that he would usher in a period of relative political relaxation when he consolidated power. Instead, there are signs that he is seeking to manage state affairs in a more hands-on and less permissive style than that associated with Mr. Jiang, who in his later years focused on carrying out broad economic changes while allowing a degree of media openness.

In somewhat related news, IBM set to go ahead with the sale of its personal computer business to the Lenovo Group, China's biggest computer manufacturer.