Relentless repression
January 20, 2012
Ten years in jail for subversion - that was the draconian punishment meted out to the writer Li Tie on Thursday for "articles criticizing the government and his participation in discussions hosted on 'reactionary' websites," according to the Hong Kong-based Chinese Human Rights Defenders.
Li's brother has since told reporters that the lawyer appointed by his family was left in the dark by the people's court and state security authorities. Meanwhile, the lawyer appointed by the court to defend Li has refused to give the family a copy of the verdict.
Nervous authorities
The sentence is just the latest in a wave of state repression of dissent. Just a few days ago, the writer Zhu Yufu was charged with alleged subversion after calling on people to defend their freedom in a poem. At the end of December, veteran activists Chen Wie and Chen Xi were jailed for nine and 10 years, respectively.
Although the situation has been particularly difficult for dissidents in China since the arrest of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo in 2009, it got even worse last year during the Arab Spring when Chinese protesters also took to the streets and there were online calls for a "Jasmine Revolution".
"Even though they were not massive in the end, the authorities reacted extremely nervously," says Dirk Pleiter from Amnesty International, adding that the government is currently nervous again because of the transition of power taking place in the autumn.
President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao have to step down at the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, where their successors will be elected.
Widening social divisions
Moreover, the government is worried about all forms of protest in light of the increasing social problems in China: The gap between rich and poor is widening, as are the divisions between the country's urban and rural populations. A study by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences recently found that there had been 60,000 protests nationwide in 2006 - or over 160 per day. Today, the figure is thought to be higher still and Pleiter thinks the government "will react with more repression and thus huge human rights abuses."
Some dissidents cannot deal with the pressure. Last week, Yu Jie, a writer who directly criticized the prime minister in a book entitled, "China's Best Actor: Wen Jiabao", left the country with his wife and son. He told Deutsche Welle the situation had become unbearable after Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. "Chinese society is neither normal nor healthy. It has no vitality."
Author: Christoph Ricking / act
Editor: Darren Mara