There's the so-called communist China that the world has come to know and love. Corrupt and paranoid.
A Chinese court sentenced a longtime activist to 10 years in prison for inciting subversion Friday over his online articles urging democratic change, a heavy penalty that rights groups say shows China's growing intolerance of criticizing one-party rule.
Liu Xianbin, who has previously spent a decade in prison, was found guilty of inciting subversion of state power by the Suining Intermediate People's Court in Sichuan province after a trial that lasted a few hours Friday, his wife Chen Mingxian told The Associated Press.
The trial comes amid a vast crackdown on activism in China. Dozens of well-known lawyers and activists across China have vanished, or have been interrogated, held under house arrest or criminally detained for subversion. The restrictions may reflect government anxiety about possible protests inspired by recent events in the Middle East.
