23/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - EU calls for release of Bao Zhuoxuan. The spokesperson to the High Representative at the EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on Thursday 22 October called for the release of Bao Zhuoxuan, the 16-year-old son of Chinese human rights defenders. Bao's passport was confiscated following his parents' detention in mid-July and he is reported to have been placed under house arrest. “In absence of any charges against him, the Chinese authorities should guarantee Mr Bao's right to unrestricted movement”, the spokesperson explains. She went on to state that more generally, the ongoing detention of a number of human rights lawyers and defenders by the Chinese public security forces “in unknown locations, without access to legal counsel or visits from their relatives, continues to raise serious questions about China's stated commitment to strengthening the rule of law” (see EUROPE 11416). (CG)