Yu Wensheng had previously warned that any statements made by him in detention without a lawyer present couldn't be taken as genuine, his wife says.
The ban is a 'symbolic measure' aimed at creating a more ecologically aware China, the country's environment ministry says.
State-owned companies overseas and China-based campuses of overseas universities also host Communist Party members and cells.
A prominent professor was besieged by angry students after a woman's post accusing him of sexually harassing her was deleted by government censors.
The Higher People's Court in the northern city of Tianjin upholds the original verdict and sentence handed down in December.
The detentions come amid a renewed crackdown on civil groups from the civil affairs ministry in Beijing.
Authorities in Beijing are stepping up surveillance of activists in the capital this year, as the family of Hu Yaobang pays their respects at his graveside.
Former student protest leader Joshua Wong applies for a judicial review of the decision, which officials say is in keeping with the city's mini-constitution.
A prominent gay rights account says the hashtag 'I am gay' was among the most successful in the history of Chinese social media.
A new website seeking tip-offs from the general public sparks fears of a new level of political denunciations under the administration of President Xi Jinping.
Local residents say the move will ensure that users are unable to scale the "Great Firewall" and evade government censorship.
A pro-Beijing activist says Benny Tai may have violated existing laws, while supporters point to constitutional protections for free speech in the city's Basic Law.
Wang Quanzhang's wife Li Wenzu says her house arrest appears to have been lifted for now, after two friends are injured by security guards watching her home.
Neihan Duanzi's potential to organize and connect more than 100 million users across China may have made the authorities nervous, sources say.
Sun Zhengcai says he feels 'remorse' for his crimes, but commentators say his fall has more to do with factional politics than a government cleanup operation.
Multiple former detainees say their video "confessions" were extracted from them using threats to loved ones, fear of further mistreatment, and even torture.
The renewed attack on legal scholar Benny Tai comes amid growing concern expressed to the United Nations dwindling freedom of speech in the city.
