Washington, DC, May 08 – Since the beginning of this year, China has demonstrated again and
again that it will not fulfill the promises it made during its bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games
to improve human rights, particularly by permitting greater freedom of expression. Hu Jia, a
prominent AIDS and environmental activist, was arrested late last year and subsequently
sentenced to three and a half years in prison for “inciting subversion of state power”. In March,
following protests in Tibet and neighboring provinces, hundreds of Tibetans were killed and
thousands arrested in the ensuing police crackdown. Now, details are emerging of the arrest of
yet another prominent government critic ahead of this summer’s Olympic Games.