Chinese activist detained on way to church

BEIJING - Security agents detained a Christian activist Sunday who was on his way to a church service attended by President Bush and the man was being held at an undisclosed location, a relative said.

Hua Huiqi, a member of Beijing's underground Christian church, and his brother were bicycling around dawn when they were taken away in separate cars by security agents, whom the brother said he recognized from previous encounters.

The agents took away Hua Huiqi's Bible and cell phone, said the brother, Hua Huilin, who was later released.

"I told him not to go because it's during the Olympic Games and this period is sensitive," Hua Huilin told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "But he was determined to go because he said that church was where he was baptized. So I went with him hoping to protect him."

The line was disconnected three times during the conversation, a sign that authorities were monitoring the line.

Hua Huiqi had been planning for days to be at Kuan Jie Protestant Church at the same time as Bush, who is in Beijing for the Olympics. It was not immediately clear what Hua had planned to do at the church.

Chinese authorities often take activists away before and during sensitive periods.