Leading China rights lawyer detained

A leading Chinese rights lawyer has been taken from his home by security officials, a colleague and the website of the civil rights group he established said on Thursday.

Xu Zhiyong, co-founder of the Open Constitution Initiative, or Gongmeng, was seized at dawn on Wednesday and has been out of contact since.

"The security guard of the compound where he lives was called (by police) to Xu's apartment to sign some documents when he was taken," colleague Dang Lihui told Reuters by telephone. "His house is closed, the door is locked, we can't reach his mobile and the phone in the house may also be cut off," he added.

Another Gongmeng worker, Zhuang Lu, has also been missing since Wednesday, the group's website (www.gongmeng.cn) said.

Made up of scholars, lawyers and rights advocates, Gongmeng has annoyed Beijing with a series of high-profile operations, including providing legal aid to victims of tainted baby milk formula and with a report criticising the government's handling of demonstrations across the Tibetan plateau last year.

The group's Beijing office was shut down for non-payment of taxes earlier this month, and Xu was supposed to have attended a hearing about the case on Thursday.

The non-profit group, forced to register as a company because it was not allowed to register as an non-governmental organisation, faces a fine of more than 1.4 million yuan ($200,000).

Beijing is trying to tighten control over politically related activities in a sensitive year, when it marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic.

RIGHTS TRIAL

Separately, next Wednesday has been set as the start date for the postponed trial of Huang Qi, a rights campaigner detained after he gave help to parents of children killed in last year's devastating earthquake in Sichuan province, his wife said.

Huang, 45, was taken into custody in Sichuan in June 2008 and faced trial for "illegal possession of state secrets", a sweeping charge that can mean lengthy jail terms in China.

"I had to hear about the trial through my lawyer. I've not even been able to see Huang for the last year. I'm very worried about him," his wife Zeng Li said by telephone.

Huang has run the Tianwang Human Rights Centre and a website (http://www.64tianwang.com) critical of the Communist Party's restrictions on political rights.

He was convicted in 2003 of "inciting subversion of state power" and released from jail in 2005.

One of Huang's lawyers, Mo Shaoping, said he did not know how long the trial would last.

"It's sensitive as it's to do with state secrets," Mo said.

China's handling of state secrets gained international attention this month with the detention on spying charges of four employees working for Australian miner Rio Tinto.

BEIJING, July 30 (Reuters)