It's a form of restraint that would be more in keeping with the practices of a medieval dungeon than a modern, civilised state. But the device - leg and hand shackles linked by a short chain - is a well-documented part of the toolkit that the Chinese police use to break the will of their detainees. And it is one that they allegedly forced one of this country's most prominent human rights lawyers to wear, for a full month. Li Heping was finally released from detention on Tuesday and his wife Wang Qiaoling has now had time to learn about the treatment he endured over his almost two-year-long incarceration. Read more
