BEIJING - CHINA on Thursday defended its arrest of a prominent human rights campaigner after activists called it another move by authorities to silence critics ahead of the Beijing Olympics in August.

'China is a country of the rule of law. Everyone is equal before the law and no one is above it. We will deal with this case according to law,' foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said when asked about the arrest of Hu Jia.

Ms Jiang made no further comment on the case involving Mr Hu, who according to his associates and other activists was taken away by police on Dec 27 on charges of inciting subversion.

Beijing-based Hu, 34, and his wife, Zeng Jinyan, have thrown the spotlight on human rights abuses in China and spent many periods under house arrest over the past few years because of their campaigning.

They have a six-week-old daughter.

They helped expose a government-backed blood donation drive in central China which led to an Aids epidemic among thousands of unsuspecting farmers.

The Paris-based organisation Reporters Without Borders has called for Mr Hu's release.

The president of the European parliament, Hans-Gert Poettering, has called for Hu's release to show China's commitment to human rights in its Olympic year, according to reports.

Another prominent Chinese activist, Qi Zhiyong, told reporters on Thursday that Mr Hu remained in a Beijing detention centre and that a rights lawyer was trying to gain access to him.

China's communist rulers have pledged to ease curbs on media and individual freedoms ahead of the Olympics.

But activists have reported an intensifying crackdown on critics of the government as authorities seek to silence dissent as much as possible before the Olympics draws even more of the world's attention to China. -- AFP