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Sentencing, Arrest of Activists Are Signs of China's Unrelenting Crackdown

Yibing Feng

   China's recent sentencing of a blogger and its arrest of a veteran
   rights activist indicate that Beijing is determined to continue
   silencing any critics of the ruling party and government.

   Liu Yanli, a blogger in China's Hubei Province, was sentenced April 22
   to four years in prison by the local court for crimes of provocation.
   The court document said she was guilty of "picking quarrels and
   provoking trouble," and that her online speech about current and former
   party leaders had damaged the government's image.

   A week later, police took activist Xie Wenfei into custody for
   "provoking trouble." Xie, who has long been part of China's
   pro-democracy movement, has criticized the disappearance of several
   citizen journalists and rights activists who were involved in posting
   information about the government's handling of the COVID-19 outbreak.

   Blogger Liu Yanli

   The verdict by the local court stated that Liu Yanli fabricated false
   information on messenger apps to attack the Communist Party of China
   and state leaders, and that her behavior constituted a crime of
   provocation.

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