The accusations followed incidents this week in which several foreign journalists were roughed up by plainclothes enforcers as they tried to visit activist Chen Guangcheng at his home in eastern China's Shandong province. Police and state security agents broke up a lunch meeting of about a dozen lawyers in Beijing on Wednesday, taking them in for questioning, said attorney Teng Biao, who is known for his involvement in sensitive rights-related cases. At least one lawyer remains in custody and another was beaten in a police station, he said.

Chen, a self-taught lawyer who gained worldwide attention by exposing abuses in the "one-child" population control policy, has been under house arrest in the city of Linyi since completing a jail term of more than four years in September. Chen re-emerged into the human rights spotlight last week with the release of a daring video smuggled from his home in which he railed against his "illegal" house arrest and the "hooligan methods" of local authorities.

The video and claims by activists that he and his wife Yuan Weijing were subsequently beaten -- allegedly by police -- have enraged China's beleaguered community of rights lawyers and activists. "The police warned me not to get involved in the Chen Guangcheng matter. I think they are mainly worried about protest activities," Teng said of the police actions.

Teng, who is under house arrest with police posted outside his Beijing home, said Chinese authorities could be stepping up controls as they do every year ahead of China's annual parliament gathering, which opens on March 5. He added official nervousness may be heightened by the Middle East unrest.

Chinese censors sanitised media reports and blocked online discussion of events in Egypt, apparently fearful it could spark democracy calls in China.