The whereabouts of lawyer Gao Zhisheng, who went missing one year ago, are unknown and government officials have failed to provide any details, the BBC reports:
Mr Gao’s wife, now living in the US, said she was “certain” he was being tortured in prison and called on the US to increase its pressure on China.
At a regular news conference on Thursday, foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu refused to answer questions from journalists about Mr Gao.
“I have made our position known many times, at least three times,” the AFP news agency quoted him as saying.
“China is a country of rule of law and everything is handled according to the law,” he said.
But Mr Ma said he might “refer to competent authorities for more specifics”, said AFP.
