Poet, 7 others detained ahead of Hong Kong event

Beijing: The wife of a Chinese poet says he and seven other people were detained ahead of a poetry reading planned in Beijing supporting pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.

Wang Li said on Thursday that her husband Wang Zang was detained in Beijing on the night of Oct 1. He had posted on Twitter the previous day a picture of himself with a message supporting the protesters. Lawyer Sui Muqing said his client was detained for "provoking trouble."

Wang Zang had been scheduled to speak at an Oct 2 poetry reading billed to support Hong Kong protesters. Wang Li said other detainees include Chinese journalist Miao Zhang and artist Zhu Yanguang.

Police officials said they couldn't comment on the reported detentions.