China arrests blogger in widening crackdown against 'online rumour-mongers'

The Chinese police has reportedly arrested a blogger in its widening crackdown on internet rumour spreaders.

The arrests come amidst the move by President Xi Jinping administration targeting those who appear to spread false news or furnish rumours on the web.

Since August, hundreds of people have been detained, with some still locked up over criminal charges.

According to the New York Post, the latest target being bloggers appears to suggest that the Jinping administration is expanding its crackdown on dissent that some critics believe could backfire on Communist Party leaders.

The report said that Dong Rubin, 51, who runs an Internet consulting company, has been arrested on suspicion of falsely declaring the capital in his company's registration and is also suspected of illegal business operations and creating disturbances.

Meanwhile, in capital Beijing, cartoonist Wang Liming had been taken into custody on Wednesday and has not yet been freed.

China's top court recently announced that those caught for spreading rumours about the government on the Internet, could be charged with defamation if their posts are visited by 5,000 internet users or reposted more than 500 times, and defaulters will be faced with a jail term of three years.