Background
Yao Fuxin, Xiao Yunliang, Wang Zhaoming and Pang Qingxiang were detained on 20 March 2002 for their alleged role in organizing demonstrations involving 30,000 workers from twenty bankrupt state-run firms in Liaoyang city, Liaoning province. The workers were protesting against lay-offs, alleged management corruption and delayed welfare payments. Wang Zhaoming and Pang Qingxiang were released on bail on 20 December 2002, reportedly on condition that they obtain evidence against other demonstrators. However, Wang Zhaoming, was detained once again on 31 December, after hiring a lawyer in an apparent attempt to sue the authorities for his ninth-month detention. Yao Fuxin and Xiao Yunliang were initially charged with "illegal assembly and demonstration" but, according to a local court official this has since been changed to "subversion" .
More recently, seven political activists have been detained in connection with organizing or signing a petition to the 16th Chinese Communist Party Congress (held in November 2002) calling for political reforms. They are Zhao Changqing, Ouyang Yi, Dai Xuezhong, Jiang Lijun, Sang Jianchen, He Depu, Liao Yiwu and Han Lifa. Liao Yiwu and Ouyang Yi had also reportedly published a series of articles on the Internet calling for political reform in China. Both Zhao Changqing, who organised the petition, and Sang Jianchen, one of its signatories, have reportedly been charged with "inciting subversion". It is not known whether any of the others have been formally charged.
Yao Fuxin, Xiao Yunliang, Wang Zhaoming and Pang Qingxiang were detained on 20 March 2002 for their alleged role in organizing demonstrations involving 30,000 workers from twenty bankrupt state-run firms in Liaoyang city, Liaoning province. The workers were protesting against lay-offs, alleged management corruption and delayed welfare payments. Wang Zhaoming and Pang Qingxiang were released on bail on 20 December 2002, reportedly on condition that they obtain evidence against other demonstrators. However, Wang Zhaoming, was detained once again on 31 December, after hiring a lawyer in an apparent attempt to sue the authorities for his ninth-month detention. Yao Fuxin and Xiao Yunliang were initially charged with "illegal assembly and demonstration" but, according to a local court official this has since been changed to "subversion" .
More recently, seven political activists have been detained in connection with organizing or signing a petition to the 16th Chinese Communist Party Congress (held in November 2002) calling for political reforms. They are Zhao Changqing, Ouyang Yi, Dai Xuezhong, Jiang Lijun, Sang Jianchen, He Depu, Liao Yiwu and Han Lifa. Liao Yiwu and Ouyang Yi had also reportedly published a series of articles on the Internet calling for political reform in China. Both Zhao Changqing, who organised the petition, and Sang Jianchen, one of its signatories, have reportedly been charged with "inciting subversion". It is not known whether any of the others have been formally charged.