A Stitch in Haste

"Subversion" (whatever that means) is still a crime in China — quite a serious one:

Chinese activist Hu Jia was jailed Thursday for three-and-a-half years for subversion, his lawyer said as rights groups said the charge is a campaign by China to silence dissent before the Olympics.

The United States and the European Union immediately spoke out in defence of Hu, who became the second Chinese dissident in less than two weeks to be jailed after using the Beijing Olympics to highlight human rights problems in China.

Hu, for many years one of China's highest-profile human rights campaigners, was found guilty at a Beijing court of "incitement to subvert state power" following a one-day trial last month, lawyer Li Fangping said.

Li said the subversion charge had related to the 34-year-old Hu posting articles on the Internet about human rights issues and speaking with foreign reporters.

Over three years in prison, for the Chinese equivalent of blogging.

Look on the bright side — maybe his jail cell will be in one of those shiny new skyscrapers China's Communist thugs are building. Who knows — maybe he'll even be shackled to a state-controlled TV so he can watch the Beijing Olympics.