Police in southern China have arrested and charged a rights campaigner with subversion for handing out flyers announcing Liu Xiaobo's 2010 Nobel Peace Prize win, a fellow activist said Wednesday.

Police in Guangzhou city informed the wife of Guo Xianliang on Tuesday that her husband had been arrested and was being charged with "inciting subversion of state power," Ye Du, a friend of Guo's, told AFP by phone.

"I believe Guo is the first person to be arrested and charged for a crime linked to Liu Xiaobo's Nobel Peace Prize," Ye, a writer and supporter of Liu, said.

Liu, 54, is a veteran activist and co-author of Charter 08, a petition calling for democratic reforms in one-party China that has been circulated on the Internet and signed by thousands.

He was given an 11-year prison sentence last December for subversion.

Early last month Liu was awarded the peace prize — a move that angered China's communist rulers and has resulted in numerous dissidents and activists being placed under house arrest or strict surveillance.

State-controlled media has all but blacked out news of Liu's win, only printing angry diatribes against the activist in China's English-language press.

Police in Guangzhou refused to comment on Guo's arrest when contacted by AFP.

"This is ridiculous because it means that police are viewing the act of telling people about Liu Xiaobo's Nobel Peace Prize as an act of inciting the subversion of the government," Ye said.

"This is a clear violation of even the most basic human rights."

According to activist group the Chinese Human Rights Defenders, Guo, an engineer, had been passing out leaflets announcing Liu's win in the streets and parks of Guangzhou, which begins hosting the Asian Games next week.

He went missing on October 28, it said.

On Tuesday police also detained Ye for questioning in the case, but freed him after several hours. Police then went to Ye's home and confiscated two computers, a hard disk and several CDs, he said.

Rights groups have demanded China end the wide-ranging crackdown on Liu's supporters, including on his wife Liu Xia.

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