BEIJING (AFP) — China has detained six American pro-Tibet activists, including an artist who planned to project a giant laser beam onto a Beijing building at the Olympics, a group said Wednesday.
James Powderly, the co-founder of art group Graffiti Research Lab, was held by Chinese authorities early Tuesday, according to a statement from Students for a Free Tibet posted on its website.
He had been preparing to use a handheld green laser to beam simple messages up to three storeys high on billboards and buildings, it said.
The group did not detail where or when Powderly was planning to carry out his protest, and what exact message he was hoping to deliver.
"He was in Beijing to support the Tibetan people and all people around the world whose voices have been silenced by their governments, a small piece of his portfolio as an artist who won't back down in the face of authority," said Nathan Dorjee, technology director for Students for a Free Tibet.
The group said videoblogger Brian Conley and a friend, Jeffrey Rae, were detained early Tuesday in the capital.
Three other bloggers and activists -- named as Jeff Goldin, Michael Liss, and Tom Grant -- have also been missing since Tuesday, it added.
The group It said they were in Beijing to support and promote human rights, freedom of expression, and freedom for the Tibetan people.
It said Rae and Conley shot and released online high-resolution photographs and footage from a protest by Students for a Free Tibet supporters at an ethnic theme park last week.
At about noon Tuesday, Conley's wife in Philadelphia received a text message from him reading "In Jail. All fine."
No one from Students for a Free Tibet was immediately available for comment Wednesday.
The US embassy declined comment, and Beijing police headquarters also did not immediately respond to a request for a comment.
Pro-Tibet activists have launched at least six protests in Beijing to coincide with the Olympics, which end Sunday.
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