U.S. condemns sentencing of Chinese lawyers

The United States on
Tuesday condemned China’s sentencing of two human rights lawyers
to more than a decade each in jail, the latest move in a
years-long crackdown on civil society by President Xi Jinping.
Xu Zhiyong, 50, and Ding Jiaxi, 55, were sentenced on Monday
to jail terms of 14 years and 12 years for supporting such
internationally recognized freedoms as the freedoms of assembly
and expression, the State Department said.
“We urge the PRC to immediately and unconditionally release
these two unjustly detained human rights defenders and to cease
any harassment of their family members,” State Department
spokesman Vedant Patel said.
Xu and Ding went on trial behind closed doors in June on
charges of state subversion in the northeastern province of
Shandong, relatives told Reuters at the time.
The two are prominent figures in the New Citizens Movement,
which sought greater transparency into the wealth of officials
and for Chinese citizens to be able to exercise their civil
rights as written in the constitution.
“These sentences demonstrate the PRC’s expansive effort to
intimidate and silence all aspects of civil society,” Patel said
in a statement.
China’s foreign ministry on Monday said it was not aware of
the cases.