Leading Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波) has been formally indicted for subversion, his family and a rights group said yesterday, one year after he was detained in the wake of signing a pro-democracy charter.
“His lawyer told me Friday that Liu Xiaobo has been formally charged with inciting subversion of state power,” his wife Liu Xia (劉霞) said.
“I was mentally prepared for an indictment, but I wasn’t expecting the prosecutors to move so quickly,” she said by telephone.
“This doesn’t look hopeful for him,” she said. “But he will certainly fight the charges.”
The 53-year-old writer, who was involved in the 1989 Tiananmen pro-democracy protests, was arrested last December after signing Charter 08, a widely circulated petition that called for greater democracy in China.
Liu’s lawyer, Shang Baojun (尚寶軍), said on Wednesday that Liu’s case had been transferred by police to prosecutors with a recommendation he be indicted.
China Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) said Liu’s case would be heard by Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court, though a date has yet to be set.
“After holding Liu Xiaobo over one year without a trial, officials have now sped up prosecution and we worry that they will rush the case through trial procedures during the holiday season,” said Jiang Yingying, a researcher for the rights group.
“We are seriously concerned that Liu will not get a fair and open trial, and his legal rights will not be respected,” he said.
China’s Party-controled courts rarely find in favor of defendants, especially in politically charged cases.
If convicted, the 53-year-old dissident could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison. Police have said the charges against Liu are “serious,” suggesting authorities will seek a long term.
The group condemned Liu’s indictment and called for his immediate and unconditional release.
“Liu Xiaobo is being punished solely for the peaceful activities of expressing his opinions and organizing fellow citizens to voice their common concerns and ideas regarding the promotion of human rights and democracy,” CHRD said.
The indictment is likely to draw fresh outcries over a case that has already become a focus for international pressure on China, which has bolstered controls on critics of Chinese Communist Party rule.
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
DRONE CENTRAL: Taiwan aims to become Asia’s democratic hub for drones, with most exports focused on high-quality military-grade models, an official said Taiwan’s drone industry is expected to expand significantly by 2030, producing 100,000 units per month and exporting half of them, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Current drone production capacity is about 15,000 units per month, but the industry can quickly scale up as demand increases, Industrial Development Administration Director-General Chiou Chyou-huey (邱求慧) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s drone output grew 2.5-fold last year to NT$12.9 billion (US$408.3 million) under a government program to develop the uncrewed vehicle sector, he said. The Executive Yuan in October last year approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion into domestic production of uncrewed aerial
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
WARNING: China should stop engaging in actions that undermine regional peace and stability, as it would only build resentment among people across the Strait, the CGA said China has deployed more than 100 navy, coast guard and other vessels in waters from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea and the western Pacific since US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met in Beijing, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday. “In this part of the world, #China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the #StatusQuo & threatening regional peace & stability,” Wu wrote on X. In a separate post, he said Beijing was coercing Taiwan’s maritime domain, calling it illegal and provocative, after the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) expelled a
RSS