This human rights malarkey refuses to go away. Amnesty International has accused China of engaging in a 'wave of repression' ahead of the Olympic Games. Amnesty's website - just like those of Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders - is blocked in China, but the story has received widespread coverage in the ('biased') western media.
The charge is the Beijing is locking up troublemakers in a bid to guarantee a smooth Olympics. Naturally this is dismissed by the authorities here.
The latest high profile case to hit the headlines is that of human rights activist Hu Jia, the 34-year-old who has been sent down for three-and-a-half years for 'inciting subversion of state power and the socialist system'.
US diplomats in Beijing and journalists across China have called for his immediate release. He was, it is suggested, something of a clearing house for information which he routinely passed on to media organisations and embassies.
Mr Hu has campaigned for the environment, religious freedom and for the rights of people with HIV and Aids. What a bastard!
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