Police in China have detained a prominent dissident, Xu Wenli and four other members of the fledgling Chinese Democratic Party.

Mr Xu's wife said more than twenty police officers went to their house in Beijing with warrants: they searched the premises and took away thousands of documents and a fax machine.

The other activists were picked-up from the central city of Wuhan where they'd recently founded a party branch.

In the past, many activists have been questioned and later released but the Hong-Kong based centre for Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China has said this latest move may herald a tougher line from the authorities, concerned about growing support for the Democratic Party.