Rights Lawyer Xie Yang

A human rights lawyer has been detained in China on suspicion of "inciting state subversion", according to an official notice obtained by his wife weeks after he spoke out for a hospitalised teacher.

Chen Guiqiu fled China on foot with her two daughters, only to end up in a Thai prison until US officials helped them sneak out dramatically through a back door.

China began the trial of rights lawyer Xie Yang for "subversion of state power" and "disrupting court order" on Monday, a city court said on social media, a case that has drawn international concern amid claims Xie was tortured in jail.

A human rights lawyer has been detained in China on suspicion of "inciting state subversion", according to an official notice obtained by his wife weeks after he spoke out for a hospitalised teacher.

Chen Guiqiu fled China on foot with her two daughters, only to end up in a Thai prison until US officials helped them sneak out dramatically through a back door.

China began the trial of rights lawyer Xie Yang for "subversion of state power" and "disrupting court order" on Monday, a city court said on social media, a case that has drawn international concern amid claims Xie was tortured in jail.