Lawyers Challenge Judges" Authority in Trial of Chinese Activists HONG KONG - A court in eastern China adjourned the trial of three human rights activists on Monday after their lawyers unsuccessfully challenged the authority of the judges to hear the case, according to two of the lawyers and a daughter of one of the defendants. The trial of the three activists - Liu Ping, Wei Zhongping and Li Sihua - has drawn attention as a gauge of how far the Chinese Communist Party will go to stamp out the nationwide New Citizens Movement, which the three defendants supported. The hearing on Monday, conducted in Xinyu City in Jiangxi Province, attracted supporters of the movement as well as three Western diplomats, including one from the United States. The New Citizens Movement is a loosely organized group that has sought to expand legal rights and encourage civic engagement in China by demanding disclosure of officials" wealth and equal education for all children, and by holding dinner gatherings for like-minded people. Since March, the government has detained and in some cases formally arrested 18 people who are part of the movement, according to Human Rights Watch. The three movement members in Xinyu City are the first to be put on trial. They are charged with illegal assembly, based on a gathering they attended with some friends in April where a group photograph was taken. The photo, later posted on the Internet, shows them holding placards urging the release of detained protesters and the disclosure of officials" wealth. In court on Monday, all three defendants rejected the charges, as well as separate allegations lodged against Ms. Liu and Mr. Wei. Through an acrimonious day in court, the defense lawyers tried without success to challenge the fitness of the three judges to hear the case, the fitness of the prosecutor to handle the case, and the legal basis for detaining the defendants, said Zhang Xuezhong, a lawyer for Ms. Liu. Late in the afternoon, the three defendants said they would dismiss their lawyers, forcing the court to adjourn the hearing, according to Mr. Zhang and Pang Kun, a lawyer for Mr. Wei. The step was a tactical one by the defendants, to show their lack of confidence in the fairness of the hearing, and not an indication that they were dissatisfied with their lawyers, said Ms. Liu's daughter, Liao Minyue, who attended the hearing. "When the lawyers raised their hands to make points, the presiding judge ignored them," Ms. Liao said in a telephone interview from Xinyu City. The defendants found that their lawyers weren't allowed to speak and effectively defend them, so the lawyers agreed with this step. Mr. Zhang and Mr. Pang said the trial was likely to resume after a delay of at least 15 days, and that the defendants could choose to reappoint the same lawyers. Raphael Droszewski, a first secretary of the European Union diplomatic delegation to China, said that he traveled to Xinyu City from Beijing, along with diplomats from the American and Canadian Embassies, in the hope of observing the hearing, but that they were refused entry to the courtroom on Monday.