Activist detained on way to church in China

BEIJING -- Security agents detained a Christian activist Sunday who was on his way to a church service attended by President Bush and the man was being held at an undisclosed location, a relative said.

Hua Huiqi, a member of Beijing's underground Christian church, and his brother were bicycling around dawn when they were taken away in separate cars by security agents, whom the brother said he recognized from previous encounters.

The agents took away Hua Huiqi's Bible and cell phone, said the brother, Hua Huilin, who was later released.

"I told him not to go because it's during the Olympic Games and this period is sensitive," Hua Huilin told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "But he was determined to go because he said that church was where he was baptized. So I went with him hoping to protect him."

The line was disconnected three times during the conversation, a sign that authorities were monitoring the line.

Hua Huiqi had been planning for days to be at Kuan Jie Protestant Church at the same time as Bush, who is in Beijing for the Olympics. It was not immediately clear what Hua had planned to do at the church.

A man who answered the telephone at the Beijing Public Security Bureau's spokesman's office said they would try to find out what happened. He would not comment otherwise or give his name, as is common with Chinese officials.

Chinese authorities often take activists away before and during sensitive periods. They have tightened already stringent restrictions to curb potential criticism or protests during the Olympics.

On Saturday, the organization Chinese Human Rights Defenders said the wife of jailed activist Zeng Jinyan disappeared on Thursday and may have been taken by police to prevent her from speaking to journalists during the games.

There have been small protests by foreign activists near the National Stadium, a key Olympics venue, and Tiananmen Square since last week. They have ended peacefully and no arrests were reported, though several people have been deported.

Five Tibet activists were taken away by Chinese security agents Sunday after protesting. All five protesters -- including two Americans-- belong to the New York-based Students for a Free Tibet.

Hua Huiqi, an underground pastor who has fought against a development project in his neighborhood, has been arrested and beaten several times over the last few years because of his religious activities. He served six months in jail for "obstructing official business."

Rights groups say that charge stemmed from an incident where Hua and his mother scuffled with police as they prepared to deliver a petition to the central government over the demolition of their home in 2001.

China allows worship only in officially approved churches such as the one Bush visited Sunday with first lady Laura Bush, so millions of people pray privately in house churches to avoid detection.

After attending the service on Sunday, Bush gathered for photos with parishioners on the front steps and told reporters that no country should "fear the influence" of religious freedom, a clear reference to China's tight control of churches.

"It just goes to show that God is universal," Bush said. "No state, man or woman should fear the influence of loving religion."