BEIJING, China – Teng Biao, a Chinese human rights lawyer, who has defended dissidents and called on the Communist Party to improve its human rights record ahead of the 2008 Summer Olympics, is missing.  Teng’s wife and friends fear that the police may have secretly detained him.  Teng has belonged to a group of young Chinese activists who have used test cases, online petitions and media publicity to campaign for stronger rights under the Chinese Communist Party.

In recent months, Mr. Teng has attracted attention because of his commentary on China’s record on human rights and his call for the release Hu Jia, an outspoken Beijing dissident who faces subversion charges after spending much of last year under house arrest.  He also warned last month that Beijing’s Olympic Games, which opened on August 8, had led to some retreat in China’s human rights. A rights activist who spoke to Teng recently said he appeared “deeply downcast and under pressure”, partly because state security officers had confiscated his passport and a deadline loomed for deciding whether to challenge their act in court.

Mr. Teng disappeared on Thursday evening after calling to say he would be home in 20 minutes, said his wife, Wang Ling. Shortly afterward, she said, she heard shouting in the parking lot below the family apartment and later found her husband’s empty car. Witnesses told her that two men had dragged someone out of the car and taken him away.

For more information, please see:

International Herald Tribune – Chinese rights activist reported missing – 07 March 2008.

New York Times – Chinese Rights Activist Reported Missing – 08 March 2008.

Reuters – China rights lawyer disappears and feared detained – 07 March 2008.