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Campaign calls for peaceful gatherings

UPI/Stephen Shaver
UPI/Stephen Shaver | License Photo

BEIJING, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- A blog site called for demonstrations every Sunday in China to press for people's rights only days after authorities reportedly acted against a similar call.

"The rights of the Chinese people are something the Chinese people themselves must fight for ... Please join us in a non-violent (protest) to let the Chinese government respect the Chinese people's basic rights," said an open letter on the Boxun, a blog site used by Chinese dissidents, the Financial Times reported Wednesday.

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A similar call last week to bring to China a "Jasmine" type revolution sweeping North Africa and the Middle East largely fizzled out with Chinese authorities mounting a big show of force.

While last week's call was for anti-government protests in 13 Chinese cities, organizers of the latest one urged weekend demonstrations in several more cities.

The Times report said the appeals and open letters were signed only as "organizers of the Chinese Jasmine gatherings."

One online open letter contained an apology for last week's effort that reportedly led to the detention and questioning of more than 100 activists, the report said. The Beijing government has offered no explanation for the crackdown.

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"None of (those people) have anything to do with the movement," it said.

The Communist country's authorities remain concerned about social unrest with the rise in prices of food and other items.

Earlier this week, Amnesty International in a release said China's strong measures to curb last week's planned anti-government protest were a "misguided reaction" to events elsewhere.

"This wave of detentions is deeply disturbing and appears to be a fearful, misguided reaction to events in North Africa and the Middle East," Sam Zarifi, AI's Asia-Pacific director, said.

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