AKIPRESS.COM - A total of 17 people have been detained in China following the publication of a letter calling on President Xi Jinping to resign, BBC reports.

The letter was posted earlier this month on a state-backed website Wujie News. Although quickly deleted by the authorities, a cached version can still be found online.

"Dear Comrade Xi Jinping, we are loyal Communist Party members," it begins, and then cuts to the chase.

"We write this letter asking you to resign from all party and state leadership positions."

But in China, of course, and in particular on a website with official links, this kind of thing is unheard of and there have already been signs of a stern response by the authorities.

The detention of a prominent columnist, Jia Jia, was widely reported to be in connection with the letter.

BBC has spoken to a staff member at Wujie who has asked to remain anonymous and who has said that in addition to Jia Jia another 16 people have been "taken away". The source said they included six colleagues who work directly for the website, including a senior manager and a senior editor, and another 10 people who work for a related technology company.

The letter focuses its anger on what it says is President Xi's "gathering of all power" in his own hands, and it accuses him of major economic and diplomatic miscalculations, as well as "stunning the country" by placing further restrictions on freedom of speech.