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CHANGSHA, Hunan, China, Dec. 30, 2016 /Christian Newswire/ -- Authorities refused to allow the attorney of a detained Christian human rights activist to meet with his client yesterday, December 29, 2016, and have been keeping knowledge of the defendant's whereabouts restricted within the public security bureau.

Photo: In this document, authorities refused to allow Jiang Tianyong's lawyer to meet with him. (Photo: China Aid)

The lawyer representing Jiang Tianyong, a Christian activist who served as a human rights attorney until the Chinese government revoked his license in 2007, reported that he was denied access to his client on Dec. 29.

According to a graphic provided by the China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group, officials claim that permitting the prisoner to meet with his defense would risk spreading state secrets and interfere with the investigation.

Jiang disappeared on Nov. 21 while returning to Beijing after visiting the wife of another incarcerated lawyer in Changsha, Hunan. At the time, no one outside of the public security bureau knew his location. However, on Dec. 22, his father-in-law received a notice stating that he was being held in an unnamed place in an unofficial "black jail" on suspicion of "subverting state power."

China Aid exposes abuses, such as those suffered by Jiang Tianyong, in order to stand in solidarity with persecuted Christians and promote religious freedom and human rights.