"Fears of new crackdown as China holds two former members of rights group", 15th June 2015

Two former members of a prominent Chinese human rights group [Guo Bin and Yang Zhanqing] have been detained, fuelling fears that the country’s crackdown on civil society has entered a new phase of repression that will see NGOs face increasing pressure...taken into custody on Friday on charges of “illegal business operation”...The detentions are the latest chapter in an offensive against Chinese civil society...Yirenping, a non-profit group that was founded in 1996 [and works on anti-discrimination & food safety isses], has found itself at the eye of the storm since March when it criticised the detention of five feminists who had planned to protest against sexual harassment...Public security officials are likely to be given far greater control over the activities of foreign NGOs under draft legislation...the Communist party had used both nationalistic propaganda and the promise of action on issues such as corruption to try to reinforce its authority...