Olympics critic held, wife says

An online commentator who said the 2008 Beijing Olympics would force ordinary Chinese to live “like pigs and dogs” has been detained nearly a week on a subversion charge, his wife said.

Beijing tightly controls Web content, censoring anything it considers critical of -- or a threat to -- the Communist Party. Press freedom and human rights groups say China has jailed dozens of people for online writings.

Wang Dejia, who uses the pen name Jing Chu, has written numerous online articles about sensitive topics in China -- for example, backing Taiwan’s bid for United Nations membership and criticizing Beijing for rights abuses. He was taken from his home in the southern city of Guilin, said his wife, Wen Zhenyan.