Following the arrest of Beijing-based political dissident Fang Jue on November 4, Human Rights in China (HRIC) has learned that Fang’s housekeeper, Wang Jinzhi, has also been arrested.

According to informed sources, Beijing Public Security police arrested Wang at the same time that they detained Fang as part of a crackdown on dissidents prior to the opening of the 16th Party Congress.

A native of impoverished Gansu Province in China’s Northwest, Wang previously worked in a shop owned by a friend of Fang, who recommended her after Fang was released from prison in ill health in July.

Following Wang Jinzhi’s disappearance, her husband received a phone call from an unidentified person saying that Wang was being detained under Custody & Repatriation. But when Wang’s family and friends made further inquiries, police denied all knowledge of Wang’s whereabouts.

Fang Jue’s sister Liu Jing has also been thwarted in her efforts to learn more about Fang’s current situation, and is now under constant surveilance by the police.

HRIC deplores the arrest of Fang Jue and his housekeeper Wang Jinzhi, and calls for both to be released immediately.