China’s Crackdown on Dissidents Continues

TIME: “When a string of Chinese dissidents were arrested or detained last year, the cause was often attributed to the large number of sensitive anniversaries that fell on the 2009 calendar. The first anniversary of the rio

Missing rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng

ts in Tibet, the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown and the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic all contributed to a defensive official outlook and a cold climate for civil rights in China. But that bleak trend also offered the hope that in the coming year, with a calendar relatively free of delicate periods, China’s grip on free speech and dissent might relax.

So far that hasn’t happened. The Chinese government has cracked down on activists just as aggressively during the first few weeks of 2010 as it did last year.”
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