Tainted milk activist taken into 'custody' again in China

BEIJING -- A Chinese activist previously jailed for campaigning over the melamine-tainted milk scandal has been taken into custody again by plainclothes security men, a post on his Twitter feed said Thursday.

Zhao Lianhai, whose child was one of 300,000 made ill by contaminated milk in 2008, was freed on medical parole last December after being sentenced to two and a half years in prison the month before for “disturbing social order.”

Since then, Zhao has been posting prolifically on Twitter, calling for justice in the case and the release of activists, lawyers and dissidents swept up in an ongoing Chinese government crackdown on dissent.

“I have just learned that Zhao has once again been forcibly taken away by plainclothes police,” said a posting on the account claiming to be from his wife, Li Xuemei.

“At the moment his whereabouts remain unknown. I hope everyone can continue to pay attention to Zhao Lianhai.”

Li could not immediately be reached for comment and Zhao's mobile phone was switched off.

Zhao, 39, said in an interview with Hong Kong's South China Morning Post published last month that he was force-fed through the nose with China-produced milk while on hunger strike to protest against his sentence.

Following his release, he was again briefly taken into custody after he called for authorities to free prominent artist and government critic Ai Weiwei.

Ai was detained by police in early April over what the government later said was suspected “economic crimes,” but he has not been formally charged.

In an emotional 20-minute video posted on YouTube last month, Zhao — his young son sitting on his lap — called on authorities to free detained government critics and institute open and fair government.

“What I can do is make my voice heard and call on authorities to quickly release Ai Weiwei and all of these other good people who were taken away recently — all of these people who have a sense of responsibility toward their country and society,” he said.

China's dairy industry was rocked in 2008 by revelations that melamine was added to powdered milk to make it appear higher in protein, making babies ill and causing worldwide recalls of Chinese dairy goods.

Zhao, whose son became sick from tainted milk, was arrested in December 2009 after rallying the relatives of the victims to protest and demand compensation.

He also ran a website providing information to the families whose babies suffered from melamine-induced kidney stones and urinary tract infections.

Chinese authorities said at least six babies died and another 300,000 became sick.