20 held in China for letter demanding President Xi to resign

Twenty people were detained in China in connection with the recent publication of an anonymous letter demanding President Xi Jinping's resignation, a media report said today.
The anonymous letter written in the name of "loyal Communist Party supporters" while appreciating Xi's sweeping anti-corruption drive had accused him of promoting "personality cult, not allowing 'rash opinions of central leadership', creating a 'one voice party' method" disregarding the collective leadership principle, the BBC reported.
Thousands of officials were punished in the anti-graft drive in the last three years after XI assumed charge.
The letter said "Dear Comrade Xi Jinping, we are loyal Communist Party members. We write this letter asking you to resign from all party and state leadership positions".

"We make this request out of consideration for the Party cause, out of consideration for the nation and its people-and also out of consideration for your personal safety and that of your family", the letter published by host of foreign media including the BBC said.
The letter was posted earlier this month on a state-backed website Wujie News creating an uproar in the media circles here as the state-run media operates under tightly controlled supervision of the ruling Communist Party of China,(CPC).

Although quickly deleted by the authorities, a cached version can still be found online.
The arrest of 20 people followed the disappearance of a Chinese columnist Jia Jia who was reportedly went missing while boarding a flight to Hong Kong from here.

He is said to have warned an editor friend about publishing an anonymous letter calling for the resignation of Xi, who is also Communist Party Chief and the head of military.
BBC quoted an unidentified staff member at Wujie as saying that in addition to Jia Jia another 16 people have been "taken away".
A well-known Chinese dissident Wen Yunchao living in the
US said three members of his family, living in China's Guangdong Province, had also been detained in connection with the letter, the report said.
Wen said he believed his parents and his brother had been detained because authorities were trying to pressure him to reveal information. But he told the BBC that he knew nothing about the letter.

The appearance of the letter sparked off speculation that Wujie was either hacked, or had perhaps been using some kind of automatic trawling and publishing software.
It's appearance on the website coincided with the China's fortnight long Parliament session which ended on March 14.
The appearance of the letter also coincides with a string of high-profile censorship incidents, amid government's efforts to further tighten the control of the state media focussing on furthering Xi's image.
Xi himself emphasised government control of the media with a visit to top state media outlets recently where he stressed that news must "speak for the Party."

Business tycoon and outspoken commentator Ren Zhiqiang was trolled in the official media recently for his comment that the state media should first speak for those who fund it: the people.
A Xinhua report referred to Xi as "last leader" which was later stated to be a typo error.