<![CDATA[US implores China to let human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang reunite with family after 'unjust detention']>
The US government has called on Beijing to allow Chinese human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang to rejoin his family after releasing him from an "unjust detention" into house arrest.
US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said on Monday that Wang, who was detained in a 2015 nationwide crackdown that targeted hundreds of human rights lawyers and activists, must be reunited with his wife, Li Wenzu, and seven-year-old son, and used the occasion of Wang's scheduled release to issue a broader call for amnesty.
Wang is still unable to join his family in Beijing after being released into house arrest 14 days ago in Jinan in Shandong province, Li told the Post.
"We remain very concerned about reports of his declining physical and mental health, and of his mistreatment in prison," Ortagus said in a statement.
The State Department also mentioned Yu Wensheng, "as well as other Chinese citizens who are in detention simply for exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms in pursuit of a more equitable and just society, governed by the rule of law".
Yu was detained and disbarred in January 2018 and arrested on subversion charges soon afterwards.
"We remain concerned by [China's] weak rule of law, arbitrary detentions, torture in custody, and continued violations and abuses of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of individuals inside its borders," the US statement said.
Wang and Yu were swept up in the "709 crackdown", a reference a purge starting on July 9, 2015, that resulted in the interrogation, persecution or disappearance of around 300 human rights lawyers and activists around the country. Some reported being tortured, physically abused or medicated against their will in custody.
Xie Yang (left) and fellow human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang on Monday in Jinan. Photo: Twitter alt=Xie Yang (left) and fellow human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang on Monday in Jinan. Photo: Twitter
Many of those released have faced continued limits on their freedom, such as house arrest, making it difficult to reunite with family members.
Xie Yang, a Hunan-based human rights lawyer who was also implicated in the 709 crackdown, was able to visit Wang in his residence complex on Monday and took him out for lunch, Li said.
"He said he was still not allowed to join us in Beijing but we don't know who are the people exactly behind this scheme in restricting his freedom," Li said. "If not for Xie Yang, who managed to fight for a way for him to dine out, he would have still be trapped in his apartment."
She added: "We will continue to step up pressure until Quanzhang comes home and reunites with us. There are no words for me to describe the extreme cruelty and level of inhuman treatment our family has been put through in the past five years. This is illegal and we wish the world would hear our plea, continue to show concerns of our ordeal so that he gets to come home soon."
Under quarantine measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus, Beijing residents like Li, who is from Hubei province, are not allowed to return to the capital for two months if they leave.
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This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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