China is watching those among its 58 million Internet users who post controversial political ideas, according to a report in the South China Morning Post today.
The New York-based group Human Rights In China said two people were detained last month for posting articles on the Internet.
Officers apprehended Li Yibin, who published the online Democracy and Freedom magazine in Beijing, and university student Liu Di was held over politically sensitive comments made in chatrooms, according to the report. Neither has been seen by friends or relatives since being picked up by police.
The detentions were part of an intensified crackdown on Internet freedoms, the rights group claimed. A handful of other dissidents have been held during or since the 16th Communist Party Congress last month. Some of them had also expressed views on the Web.
Calling for the freedom of held dissidents, rights groups say China has detained or imprisoned more than 30 people for using the Internet to share information or express their views.
Meanwhile, China News Service said the number of Internet users had risen 50 percent in the 12-month period ending in October. China has the second-highest number of Internet users in the world after the United States, it said.
Nicolas Becquelin, research director with Human Rights In China, added that government controls on the use of the Internet were as efficient as ever. He said that there was no sign of users being granted greater freedoms.
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