The teenage son of a detained rights lawyer in China is now being held under house arrest after he attempted to seek entry into the United States, according to reports.
Bao Zhuoxuan, 16, is under surveillance by authorities at his grandparents’ house in Inner Mongolia, a region of northern China. Police first seized Bao earlier this month in Burma near the Chinese border.
Fengsuo Zhou, a U.S. citizen and human rights activist, told the New York Times that he had planned to meet Bao in Bangkok, Thailand, and help him escape to America.
Bao is the son of Wang Yu, a prominent rights lawyer in China. Authorities detained Wang in July as part of a sweeping crackdown by the Communist Party against more than 300 rights lawyers and activists. More than 20, including Wang, remain in custody.
Bao’s case is emblematic of Chinese authorities’ attempts to end the rights lawyer movement by targeting their families. According to a new report from the Congressional-Executive Commission on China in the United States, police seized Bao’s passport in July at the Beijing Capital International Airport and detained his father, Bao Longjun, before they could travel to Australia, where Bao planned to attend high school.
Ory Abramowicz, spokesman for the State Department, told the Washington Free Beacon that the United States is concerned about the reports of Bao’s house arrest.
"We urge China to uphold its international human rights commitments and protect the health and safety of this minor child," he said in a statement. "We are also disturbed by a seemingly systematic campaign by China to target family members of Chinese citizens who peacefully challenge official policy and work to protect the rights of others."
"If Bao Zhuoxuan’s family wishes him to study abroad like hundreds of thousands of other Chinese students, China should permit him to leave the country," he continued. "We call on China to remove restrictions on Bao Zhuoxuan's freedom of movement, and again urge China to release Wang Yu and Bao Longjun without condition."
Activists say Chinese President Xi Jinping has initiated the worst repression since former dictator Mao Zedong in an attempt to strengthen the Party’s grip on society. Human rights lawyers, activists, religious and ethnic minorities, and all dissenters from the Party have been targeted.
U.S. lawmakers and Chinese dissidents have urged the Obama administration to publicly raise the cases of political prisoners and press their counterparts in Beijing on rights abuses. Rep. Chris Smith (R., N.J.), chairman of the China commission, said earlier this month that, "U.S. leadership on human rights is needed now more than ever" amid the Chinese government’s "extraordinary assault" against its own people.
However, Obama has often been criticized for subordinating the issue of human rights to other economic and security concerns in dialogues with the Chinese. Xi’s first official state visit to Washington went ahead last month despite calls from rights groups to cancel the summit unless prisoners were released.
White House officials raised white sheets around Obama and Xi’s press conference during the visit, blocking protesters from a view of the Chinese leader.
State Department spokesman John Kirby reiterated on Wednesday that "The United States is concerned about media reports that Bao Zhuoxuan, the son of detained rights lawyer Wang Yu and her detained husband Bao Longjun, is being held under house arrest in Inner Mongolia, China." He told reporters at a press briefing that U.S. officials urge their Chinese counterparts to "protect the health and safety of this minor child" and allow him freedom of movement, including the ability to leave the country.