Chinese Dissident Detained Again Over Letter Critical of Ex-Official

A dissident who accused a former mayor of this capital of provoking the 1989 assault on pro-democracy demonstrators in and around Tiananmen Square was detained by police Monday for the second time in four days.

Jin Cheng was taken from his home early Monday morning for questioning about the critical comments made in a letter released last week, said his wife, Liu Xiuli.

Liu said authorities gave no indication when Jin would be released.

Jin, 38, was imprisoned for three years after the 1989 military assault on pro-democracy demonstrators that killed hundreds, possibly thousands, of people.

Before being detained Monday, Jin had been held from Thursday until early Friday morning. He contended then that he was exercising rights guaranteed by the Chinese Constitution.

His letter to the Chinese legislature accused Chen Xitong, who was mayor of Beijing in 1989, of provoking the attack by misleading Chinese leaders about the demonstrations.

Chen was promoted to Communist Party chief in Beijing in 1993 but later was dismissed from the party because of accusations that he tolerated corruption while mayor. Several of his subordinates have been punished, but there has been no indication that Chen will be charged.

The case is extremely sensitive for the Communist Party, which is in the midst of an anti-corruption campaign but may be afraid that prosecuting Chen could implicate other influential figures.

Jin said in his letter to the National People’s Congress that the failure to deal openly with Chen’s case has angered Chinese people already outraged by widespread corruption.