China's Chilling Effect for Investor Research

(Beijing) – Shanghai investor Wang Weihua's final microblog post October 12 was brief and ominous: "The police are coming."

Three days later, Wang's family said he'd been taken into custody by police officers who traveled more than 3,600 kilometers to Wang's Shanghai home from Urumqi, a city in China's far west.

Police gave the family a document saying Wang was detained on charges of fabricating and disseminating false information about securities and futures trading activity. They gave no additional information.