China police detain dissident, family says

BEIJING, Sep 7 (Reuters) Chinese police detained prominent dissident Hu Jia this morning, his family said, adding to the list of human rights activists held or harassed by the country's dissent-wary government.

Hu was taken away by plain-clothes police early in the morning, his wife Zeng Jinyan told Reuters. She said it was unclear how long he would be held. ''They wanted to enter the home, but I refused to let them in,'' she said.

Hu's wife, Zeng, said police produced no identification or warrant for his detention, and said he was being taken to a local police station.

Before his detention, Hu told Reuters by phone that dozens of police had gathered below his apartment in far eastern Beijing.

''It looks like they're getting serious about taking me away,'' said Hu, who has been under house arrest since July. Earlier this year, Hu was held in secret detention for 41 days.

Hu, 33, has embraced a number of controversial causes. He first came to prominence over his advocacy for AIDS sufferers in rural China.

A Buddhist, Hu has also supported dialogue with exiled Tibetans, and most recently protested the treatment of other rights activists, including Gao Zhisheng, a combative lawyer who was detained in August, and Chen Guangcheng, a blind rural campaigner sentenced to over four years in jail.

Other Chinese rights activists have recently been placed under house arrest, moved to distant cities, or have gone into hiding.

REUTERS DH PM0708