"Police accused him of being a criminal suspect, but did not say on what charge," Zeng told AFP by phone.

Zeng said the interrogation had focused on what Hu knew about prominent human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, who was arrested last month over unspecified "criminal activities".

Both Hu and Gao are vocal critics of injustices and rights abuses in China.

Early Thursday, more than 20 officers, none of them in uniform, pounded on the couple's door before forcing their way in and taking Hu away, Zeng said.

The detention comes less than a month after China arrested Gao and imprisoned Chen Guangcheng, a blind activist who helped women forced to undergo sterilization and late-term abortions.

Since mid-August up to 100 well-known dissidents, including 1989 Tiananmen democracy protester Liu Xiaobo as well as authors, academics, lawyers and other activists, have been placed under strict surveillance or house arrest, the overseas watchdog Chinese Human Rights Defenders said in a statement.

Hu informed journalists about the recent detentions and gathered information about the mistreatment of other activists.

Prior to being detained, he was trying to arrange for a lawyer to represent Gao, said Wan Yanhai, director of a Beijing-based non-governmental AIDS group, despite being under house arrest since July.

Hu's detention came a day after he received a phone call from Gao's wife, Geng He, who told him not to hire a lawyer for her husband, Wan said.

Geng has also been under house arrest since her husband was detained on August 15.

"Geng appeared to have been forced to make the phone call. As soon as she told Hu Jia not to hire a lawyer for her husband, and before Hu Jia could ask her anything, the phone was cut," Zeng said.

Human rights groups and analysts have said the crackdown may be happening because the government needs to strengthen control over society ahead of crucial upcoming Communist Party meetings and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

The communist regime is especially opposed to intellectuals such as lawyers who stand up for farmers and the poorly educated and teach them about their legal rights.

"The situation will not get better, only worse," before 2008, Zeng said.

Wan said China was faced with a dilemma.

"As China develops, people want more human rights. The government, however, feels threatened, especially when it sees the rights campaigners are contacting each other and forming a network," Wan said.

"The government is not prepared to deal with this issue in a democratic way."

Hu was detained earlier this year. He was released after being warned not to participate in rights cases, but Wan said the detention this time was likely to be more serious.

"Everyone feels fear. People involved in human rights don't know when it'll be their turn," Wan said.

Hu told AFP in an interview last month that the growth of China's dissident community was largely the result of the way the government handles human rights.

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