Beijing: Chinese police have detained more than 220 lawyers and human rights activists during the last three weeks, one of the widest suppressions of dissent since Xi Jinping came to power in late 2012.

Authorities have forced public confessions from some of those detained.

State media have labelled several as "venal scam artists".

As of Friday, at least 22 lawyers and activists were still in custody or missing, Amnesty International said.

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As the detentions continue, veteran China watchers are debating what is behind this latest police action.

Some say the Communist Party appears to feel increasingly vulnerable, and thus is jailing and intimidating even the mildest critics who might pose a threat to continued one-party rule.

Eva Pils, a law specialist at King's College London who has been studying Chinese rights activists, believes it stems from the very top in response to changes in China over the past three decades.

"Xi Jinping," she said, referring to the country's supreme leader, "seems to dislike the creeping liberalisation that, from his perspective, must have set in like a sort of rot in the post-Mao era. I think he is trying to reverse that trend, and cracking down on the human rights lawyers is part of a wider campaign to achieve this."

Others question whether Mr Xi and China's rulers are truly nervous or just feeling increasingly invincible, making them more willing to take actions that might spark condemnation abroad.

"We need to acknowledge the possibility of an alternative interpretation," said Keith Hand, a specialist in Chinese legal reform at the University of California, Hastings College of Law. "It's possible this is not a sign of fragility, but a sign that they feel very confident, both at home and on the international stage."

He points to Beijing's recent aggressive actions in the South China Sea as one sign of an emboldened regime.

Despite international criticism, China has pushed ahead in building artificial islands and military facilities in these disputed waters.

Under Mr Xi's reign, he noted, party leaders had also enacted a new national security law, limits on foreign non-governmental organisations and further restrictions on the internet.

"They are in control, and they are further consolidating their control," Mr Hand said. "This is a party that systemically studies the past downfalls of communist regimes, particularly the fall of the Soviet Union, and learns lessons from them. That is something Xi Jinping has really emphasised since he came to power."

However, Ms Pils said there were several signs of fragility within the party.

Mr Xi's ongoing anti-corruption crusade, while popular with the Chinese people, was taking on the signs of an internal "purge", she said, and possibly creating some nervous party factions.

The anti-graft effort "clearly indicates a sense of vulnerability and, at the same time, it has got to have the effect of increasing vulnerability". Ms Pils said.

TNS