China said to detain activists who drew attention to officials' assets By Ivan Watson, CNN April 22, 2013 -- Updated 0820 GMT (1620 HKT) At least six activist have been rounded up by security forces, rights groups say They were part of a movement trying to publicize the financial assets of top officials The moves coincide with an anti-corruption campaign by the government Beijing (CNN) -- Chinese authorities have detained at least a half dozen activists this month, human rights groups said, in what appears to be a crackdown targeting a campaign to publicize the financial assets of top government officials. Human rights groups named six supporters of the "New Citizens Movement" who they said had been rounded up by security forces in several waves starting on April 1. Among them were Ding Jiaxi, a human rights lawyer, and Zhao Changqing, a former student leader from the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. All six activists are being charged with "unlawful assembly," said the human rights lawyer Liang Xiaojun. Liang said he was representing an activist named Yuan Dong, who was detained after he unfurled banners on a Beijing street calling for Chinese leaders to reveal their personal assets. Another lawyer described how police took his client, Zhao Changqing, into custody on Wednesday night. "They entered his house and took his computer, hard drives, phone and camera," the lawyer, Zhang Xuezhong, said by phone. The whole thing took place between 8 p.m. and midnight. Reports of the detentions coincided with a well-publicized anti-corruption campaign led by China's new president, Xi Jinping, who is also head of the ruling Communist Party. "All Party members must keep high mental vigilance and gain more public trust for the Party by new progress in the anti-corruption struggle," Xi said last week. In a previous statement slamming corruption, Xi had compared government bureaucrats of all levels to "tigers and flies." "We must uphold the fighting of tigers and flies at the same time, resolutely investigating law-breaking cases of leading officials and also earnestly resolving the unhealthy tendencies and corruption problems which happen all around the people," he said in a speech to party members in January. Human rights activists have been quick to criticize Xi, who was appointed president last month. "China's new President Xi Jinping cannot possibly cash in his anti-corruption pledges if he does nothing to lift the ban on free expression and move to release these citizens, who are only asking him to honor his own words," said Renee Xia, international director of the Chinese Human Rights Defenders, an advocacy group. Defense attorneys said some of the detainees were being held at a detention facility known as "Beijing No.