ZHEJIANG DISSIDENT LU GENGSONG OFFICIALLY ARRESTED

C O N F I D E N T I A L SHANGHAI 000644 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP/CM AND DRL/PHD - O'SULLIVAN NSC FOR DENNIS WILDER E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/4/2017 TAGS: PHUM PGOV CH SUBJECT: ZHEJIANG DISSIDENT LU GENGSONG OFFICIALLY ARRESTED REF: A) SHANGHAI 636 B) BEIJING 5820 CLASSIFIED BY: Christopher Beede, Political/Economic Section Chief, U.S. Consulate , Shanghai . REASON: 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (C) On September 30, Poloff received a phonecall from a woman claiming to be a relative of Lu Gengsong. She reported that local authorities had notified the family that day that Lu was officially charged with "inciting subversion." The charge of "illegally obtaining state secrets" was dropped. ¶2. (C) Lu is a well-respected activist and prolific Internet writer in Zhejiang Province. One of the focuses of his articles is housing compensation problems in Hangzhou. In a meeting with Poloff on September 26 (reftel A),Wang Xue'e (Lu's wife) and Wink Ho (a freelance journalist working with the family) said the family will increase its efforts to raise attention to the case if Lu is officially arrested. Indeed since the September 30 phonecall, there have been numerous press reports about the case, including articles by Agence France Press and the Associated Press. The family also asked during the meeting that the USG raise Lu's case with the Chinese Government. JARRETT