World Briefing

A well-known dissident who was co-writer of a political manifesto calling for greater freedom and an end to one-party rule has been formally arrested after six months in detention at a secret location.

Liu Xiaobo had been held by police with no formal notification given to his family. Police finally delivered a written notice to his wife, Liu Xia, on Wednesday informing her that her husband was arrested the day before on suspicion of “inciting to subvert state power” and transferred to a Beijing detention center.

More than 150 writers and rights activists, including Salman Rushdie, Nadine Gordimer and Wole Soyinka, have signed an open letter to President Hu Jintao urging Liu’s release.

Liu, 53, is a former university professor who spent 20 months in jail for joining the 1989 student-led protests in Tiananmen Square.