Activist on trial in China's south as dissent crackdown widens

An activist in a grassroots group whose members have called for the overthrow of China's ruling Communist Party went on trial today, his lawyer said, the latest step in Beijing's sweeping crackdown on dissent.
Liu Yuandong, a member of the Southern Street Movement, a loose network of laymen-activists campaigning on a broad civil rights agenda, faced a charge of "disturbing public order" after taking part in anti-censorship protests last year, his lawyer Liu Zhengqing said.
Liu is the latest of several Chinese activists to face trial this week, in what has been seen as a coordinated attempt by the ruling Communist Party to quash challenges to its rule.

The charge, being heard in a court in Guangzhou in the southern province of Guangdong, carries a maximum five-year jail term.
In the most prominent of the current cases, the founder of the separate New Citizens Movement Xu Zhiyong was tried in Beijing on Wednesday, and his lawyer said the verdict against him would be announced Sunday.
US ambassador to China Gary Locke has called for Xu and other "political prisoners" to be released, and his arrest was condemned by the EU.

China has dismissed such criticism as "interference" in its internal affairs.
Liu and the other defendants are almost certain to be found guilty by China's politically controlled courts.

The Southern Street Movement organised around a dozen small-scale rallies in Guangdong last year, which sometimes saw protesters holding placards calling for an end to "one-party dictatorship", but several of its members have since been detained.