China detains more than 50 human rights lawyers and staffers in extensive crackdown

• The coordinated government effort saw lawyers and firm staff members brought in for questioning by police and national security authorities.
• While most were released with warnings, others were sentenced to house arrest and still others remained out of contact in the largest roundup since 2011.
• Unlike other recent crackdowns, these detentions wwere a geographically extensive effort, covering as many as 15 provinces.

“The detentions come only two weeks after the end of the U.S.-China Strategic & Economic Dialogue and set an ugly tone for President Xi’s (Jinping) U.S. visit in September.”

Read the full story at the Los Angeles Times.