Senators Blast China Over Female Detainees

— -- A bipartisan group of U.S. senators has written a letter to China's ambassador to the United States protesting five female activists’ continued detention in China.

In the letter written to Chinese ambassador Cui Tiankai on Tuesday, potential 2016 presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., along with Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., questioned China’s “commitment” to the principles of “freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration” elucidated in the constitution of the People’s Republic of China.

Chinese authorities arrested 10 women’s rights activists on March 6 and 7 on the grounds of public disturbance just before their planned public demonstration against sexual harassment for International Women’s Day on March 8.

Though five of the women were released, the other five remain in custody more than a month later. The senators' letter identified them as Wei Tingting, Li Tingting, Wang Man, Zheng Churan and Wu Rongrong.

The senators urged the Chinese government to “immediately and unconditionally release these individuals,” and exhorted the ambassador to “guarantee their welfare and security.”

“As China prepares to mark the 20th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women in September, the Chinese government must clearly demonstrate its commitment to respect the universal human rights of all people including freedom of expression and association,” the senators wrote.

Here's the online version of the letter.

Cui Tiankai did not immediately respond to requests for comment via phone and email.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also condemned the detention of the activists on Twitter with the trending hashtag #FreeBeijing20Five.