Arrest sparks fear of Olympic crackdown

BEIJING, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- The arrest of a leading dissident in China has raised concern the government will crack down on dissent during the lead-up to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Security agents burst into Hu Jia's apartment in Beijing in December and hauled him away on charges of subverting state power as he worked on an Internet-based telephone system, The New York Times reported.

Hu, 34, reportedly used the system to disseminate information on human rights cases, peasant protests and other topics regarded by authorities as sensitive.

Hu's wife, Zeng Jinyan, also a human rights advocate, and the couple's newborn daughter are under house arrest. The telephone and Internet connections in the apartment have been cut.

Other human rights advocates and dissidents see Hu's detention as indicative of a widening crackdown on dissent, the report said. Several dissidents have been jailed recently, including a former factory worker who organized a petition drive called "We Want Human Rights, Not the Olympics" as part of a campaign to help local farmers in a legal battle over confiscated land, the newspaper said.

The Beijing Olympics is expected to attract more than 20,000 journalists. Officials are tightening controls over information, the report said.