Activists are urging Barack Obama to cancel an upcoming visit from the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, after more than 145 human rights lawyers and campaigners were detained in China as part of a rapidly intensifying campaign against civil society.  A petition sent to the White House website said: “Since Xi Jinping came to power, China’s human rights record has kept worsening.  “Xi’s state visit to the US scheduled for September this year should be cancelled, and all official exchanges with the Chinese government should be suspended until this matter is resolved.”  Wen Yunchao, a prominent pro-democracy blogger who has backed the campaign, said: “The US and the West have a moral responsibility to react to China’s crackdown.  “The US is the only power in the world that can counterbalance China. So we hope Obama’s administration will take a new decision on Xi’s state visit.”  The petition, which has gathered nearly 1,500 of the 100,000 signatures required to receive an official response, was launched after Chinese security officials began what activists have called an unprecedented offensive against human rights lawyers, dozens of whom have been detained in less than a week.  Related: Fears of new crackdown as China holds two former members of rights group  The detentions began shortly after 4am last Thursday, when at least 20 police officers surrounded the home of Wang Yu, a lawyer from Fengrui, a Beijing law practice known for taking on politically sensitive cases.  Following Wang’s detention, Chen Jianggang, a fellow Beijing attorney, warned: “They are throwing the entire state power apparatus at a single lawyer.”  His assessment turned out to be wrong. By Tuesday morning, at least 146 lawyers and activists had been detained or summoned for questioning, according to the Hong Kong-based China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group.  Those held and questioned include some of China’s most respected rights lawyers, and many of them had signed an open letter calling for Wang’s release.  By Monday night, at least 25 of those police targeted were still missing or in custody, according to Amnesty International.  The detentions – the latest chapter in an already severe crackdown on perceived Communist party foes that followed Xi’s rise to power in 2012 – have drawn international criticism.  Alarmed #China systematically detained >100 advocates just for peacefully defending rts of others. US urges release of those still detained  A State Department spokesperson said Washington had “noted with growing alarm reports that Chinese public security forces have systematically detained individuals who share the common attribute of peacefully defending the rights of others, including those who lawfully challenge official policies”.  A spokesperson for the British embassy in Beijing said: “We are deeply concerned by the reported detention of a number of human rights lawyers in China. Good governance and the rule of law are vital underpinnings for both prosperity and stability, and we will continue to engage with China on these issues.”  Chinese state media swatted away those criticisms on Tuesday. The Global Times, a pro-Beijing tabloid, used an editorial to argue that the dismantling of a “criminal gang involving several rights lawyers is a step toward realising China’s social stability”.  The newspaper rejected growing international condemnation. It said: “When China was weak, US accusations were like a stick, but this has now changed. The detentions are China’s internal affairs.”  Xinhua, China’s official news agency, accused foreign journalists of defending lawyers whom it described as “self-serving, self-publicists with nothing at heart but their own fame”.  It said: “Without recourse to anything as useful and obvious as details or facts, the western media simply equates ‘lawyers’ with ‘justice’ and ‘Chinese police’ with ‘oppression’.”  Fengrui lawyers were suspected of “illegally hiring protesters and attempting to unfairly influence the courts” as well as disturbing public order, Xinhua said.  Eva Pils, a legal scholar from King’s College London who knows several of those detained, described them as “upright, good people” who were “civic-minded and kind”.  She said their detentions were part of a “campaign to eradicate independent civil society” in China and would, in the short term, have a “terrorising impact” on the country’s activist community.  Facing growing pressure and violence from the authorities, some rights lawyers were considering leaving China, at least temporarily, said Pils, who studies the movement. “But if they leave, they face this comparatively meaningless existence abroad. Everything they struggle for is in China. They know that they can stay connected if they leave, but they are not going to be able to be part of the struggle in the same way.”  Yuan Yulai, a well-known rights lawyer who was among those police questioned, said he had been shocked by the operation’s scope. “The crackdown is a large-scale one, as if it’s a political incident.”  Other members of China’s normally outspoken community of rights lawyers declined to talk, citing police pressure. One, who was questioned and then released, told the Guardian: “I can’t talk to foreign media. Please be understanding. It’s my way of self-protection.”  A second lawyer said: “My phone is probably tapped and I can’t discuss the case.”  Related: Stuart Franklin: how I photographed Tiananmen Square and 'tank man'  With police having successfully muzzled most China-based rights lawyers, overseas activists were obliged to speak out, said Zhou Fengsuo, a Tiananmen student leader who fled Beijing after the 1989 protests and has signed the petition to Obama.  Zhou, who lives in the US, said he was left speechless by the detentions: “It broke my heart to see so many friends rounded up. Apparently this is a nationwide crackdown. It has to be organised from somewhere in Beijing, way up.”  The situation demanded a response from the international community even if Obama was unlikely to cancel what would be Xi’s first state visit to the US, he said.  Referring to the protester who halted the advance of Chinese armoured vehicles in 1989, Zhou said: “Either you stand in front of the tank or you stand with the tank. I think the US has to choose.”  Catherine Yeung, a Hong Kong-born blogger who also signed the petition, said: “What happened in China during the weekend is really quite devastating. Someone has to put a stop to what is happening there and I think perhaps we can start with Obama taking a stand against it.”  Additional reporting by Luna Lin
Petition calls on Barack Obama to also suspend official exchanges with Chinese government following wave of detentions of lawyers and activists