Chinese police seized a woman from her house in the middle of the night after she tweeted her intention to demonstrate with a banner congratulating jailed dissident Liu Xiaobo on winning the Nobel peace prize, a friend said today.
The news comes amid a crackdown on Liu's friends and supporters that has raised questions about who will collect his award next month.
His wife Liu Xia, who is under house arrest, has invited more than 140 dissidents, activists and celebrities to accept the prize because she fears she will be unable to go.
Zhang Shijie, a blogger in Chongqing, tweeted that officers had taken Mou Yanxi at about 2.30am.
Another Twitter user, @newsinchina, said Mou had returned home but police had kept her mobile phone and computer, adding: "Reminder for those who want to send her DM, emails or text messages – be cautious."
Mou's mobile phone was still switched off this evening. An officer at the police station she was reportedly taken to denied knowledge of the case.
Mou, a freelance designer thought to be in her 20s, had tweeted: "If there is really an anti-Japanese demonstration in Chongqing, I will carry a banner saying 'Congratulations, Uncle Xiaobo!' "