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Beijing (AFP) April 13, 2011 Police in China have sent two activists to labour camps and charged a veteran dissident with subversion over calls for public rallies echoing those in the Arab world, a rights group said Wednesday. Hua Chunhui and Wei Qiang have been sentenced without trial to "re-education through labour", marking the first formal punishments meted out in a major government crackdown on dissent, the Chinese Human Rights Defenders said. Sentences to Chinese labour camps rarely exceed three years. Authorities have rounded up activists since calls in February for "Jasmine" rallies in China similar to those in the Arab world, which have swept leaders out of power in Tunisia and Egypt, and sparked a bloody conflict in Libya. Zhu Yufu, 59, was formally charged with inciting subversion of state power in eastern China's Zhejiang province on Tuesday, the Hong Kong-based CHRD said in a statement. Zhu is the fifth person to be formally arrested since the crackdown began, while nearly 40 other activists have been criminally detained and at least 18 including artist Ai Weiwei have "disappeared" into police custody, CHRD said. Zhu, who was detained in early March, was sentenced to seven years in prison in 1999 as a founding member of the outlawed China Democracy Party, and also served two years in prison beginning in 2007 for his pro-democracy activities. Western governments and the United Nations have expressed concern over the growing crackdown that has resulted in the detentions and disappearances of artists, lawyers, writers, activists and intellectuals. On Tuesday, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton expressed alarm over the April 3 disappearance of Ai, an outspoken avant-garde artist and activist whose work is on display at London's Tate Modern gallery. "Arbitrary arrests and disappearances must cease," Ashton said. "I urge the Chinese authorities to clarify the whereabouts of all persons who have disappeared recently." The United States, Australia, Britain, France and Germany have already expressed concern over Ai's case and the ongoing crackdown. China's foreign ministry has said Ai is under investigation for "economic crimes" and has warned foreign governments not to interfere in the case.
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