BEIJING (AP) — China's legal authorities appear ready to disbar as many as 20 Chinese lawyers known for taking sensitive human rights cases, several of the lawyers said Wednesday, in the latest apparent clampdown on legal activists.

Lawyers said leading members of their law firms have been called in for discussions by Justice Bureau officials and that annual accreditations have yet to be issued only days before the June 1 renewal date.

If carried through, the disbarments on technicalities would mark the broadest effort in recent years by the authoritarian government to rein in a growing number of activist lawyers. Previously, only a few were disbarred, though threats, beatings and other acts of intimidation have been common.

The campaign was having a "chilling effect on the legal profession" in China, New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement Wednesday.

Human Rights Watch said Chinese justice department officials warned an unspecified number of law firms in meetings and telephone conversations about "possible adverse consequences if they continue to employ lawyers who take up rights cases."

Among the lawyers now under threat is one defending a noted Tibetan Buddhist monk and others helping parents whose children died in last year's devastating earthquake in Sichuan province.

Lawyer Tang Jitian confirmed that his employer, Anhui Law Firm in Beijing, had been warned and said he had heard from colleagues at as many as nine other affected firms. Tang has defended farmers against rural land grabs and challenged China's use of reeducation through labor.

Jiang Tianyong, a lawyer with Beijing's Gaobo Longhua Law Firm, said the Beijing Justice Bureau was dragging its feet in approving a mandatory annual renewal of his credentials. Though he has not received any notice about being disbarred, he said the stalling was at least meant as a warning.

If Jiang's license is not renewed by Sunday, he will effectively be barred from working. At least 20 others have reported the same delays in getting their license renewed, he and other lawyers said.

Jiang recently defended a Tibetan Buddhist cleric against charges of concealing weapons in an area of China where anti-government protests occurred. Investigators said they found a pistol, bullets and cartridges under a bed in his living room.

Other affected lawyers have defended parents of children sickened last year by drinking milk tainted with the industrial chemical melamine or who died in collapsed schools during last year's massive earthquake.

The Justice Bureau did not immediately respond to a faxed request for information Wednesday about the delays and allegations of intimidation. (The Associated Press)