Diplomats barred from attending China trial of dissident who called for political reform

Diplomats kept away from China dissident’s trial

BEIJING — Authorities barred diplomats from the U.S. and other countries from attending the trial Wednesday of a high-profile Chinese dissident who has called for sweeping political reforms and an end to Communist Party dominance.

The trial two days before Christmas is the latest example of authorities taking action against top activists around major holidays, rights groups said, perhaps with the hope that it would go unnoticed.

Liu was detained a year ago, just before the release of an unusually direct appeal for political liberalization he co-authored called Charter 08. More than 300 people, including some of China’s top intellectuals, signed before it was released.

Liu is accused of inciting to subvert state power. The vaguely worded charge is routinely used to jail dissidents and carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison.

Abolishing that law is among the reforms advocated in Charter 08. “We should end the practice of viewing words as crimes,” the petition says.

The United States and European Union have urged Beijing to free Liu, but China has rejected their requests.

“We were told all the passes were given out. We understand no one can get in,” said Gregory May, a political officer with the U.S. Embassy.

“We call on the government of China to release him immediately. We urge that any judicial proceedings be conducted in a fair and transparent manner.”

Nicholas Weeks, the first secretary of the Swedish Embassy, said diplomats from at least 15 countries were outside the court. Sweden holds the rotating presidency of the EU.

Lawyer Shang Baojun said Liu plans to plead not guilty at the No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court in Beijing.

Shang was swarmed by media and police when he arrived. “Who are you?” he yelled at one policeman, who told the lawyer he was blocking traffic.

He shook hands with more than a dozen diplomats before entering the court. He made no comment to the media.

Liu’s wife, Liu Xia, says she has not seen or spoken to her husband since March, when police arranged a short, supervised meeting in a Beijing hotel room.

Liu Xia said Tuesday that she had been told she could not attend her husband’s trial.

Liu is the only person to have been arrested for organizing the Charter 08 appeal, but others who signed it have reported being harassed.

Human Rights Watch, the China-based Chinese Human Rights Defenders and others have said some of Liu’s supporters in China, including prominent bloggers, have been warned not to try to attend the trial or write about it online.

“The only purpose of this trial is to dress up naked political repression in the trappings of legal proceedings,” Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

The New York-based Human Rights in China said in a statement Tuesday that one of the original signers of Charter 08, Zhang Boshu, was fired Monday from China’s top think tank, the state-run Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. In the statement, Zhang said he had been fired because of his articles promoting constitutional reform.

More than 300 international writers including Salman Rushdie, Umberto Eco and Margaret Atwood have called for his release, saying he should be allowed to express his opinion.