In 1989, Wang Dan, a frail-looking student leader, helped spearhead a mass pro-democracy movement that at times gathered one million demonstrators in Tiananmen Square.
Eventually, a fearful government called in tanks and soldiers to end the protests, killing hundreds, perhaps thousands, of civilians during a violent crackdown that shocked the world.For his leadership role in the most direct challenge to Communist Party rule in China since 1949, Wang was sentenced to four years in jail.
On Wednesday, for activities that seem innocuous next to the serious events of 1989, Wang is facing a minimum sentence of 10 years in jail on a charge of conspiracy to overthrow the government.
According to a court indictment, evidence against him includes nothing more serious than writing articles critical of the government, soliciting funds to help down-and-out fellow dissidents in China, accepting funds from overseas human-rights organizations and taking correspondence courses from the University of California (Berkeley).
Yet Chinese authorities, after holding Wang incommunicado for 16 months without charge, concluded that these actions amounted to a conspiracy to subvert a government backed by the three million People's Liberation Army troops and 57 million members of the ruling Communist Party of China.
The harsh punishment almost certain to be handed out to the 26-year-old activist is further evidence of China's ever-tightening clampdown against the country's few public advocates of free expression, belying the argument that increased economic integration with the West will enhance political liberalization.
"It's awful what they're doing," Canadian Member of Parliament Warren Allmand said. Allmand is part of an international team of high-profile jurists who had asked China for permission to observe Wang's trial.
"Just like international observers often supervise elections and certain other activities around the world, we would like to attend the trial to see whether it is conducted according to China's own laws and constitution," he said.
"If it is, why not let us observe? The Chinese are always asking us to see stuff like the great growth of Shanghai and the benefits from their economic reforms. Why not let us look at other things, too?"
On Tuesday China said no.
Wang is the latest and most prominent in a string of dissidents to fall under China's unyielding judicial hammer in recent months.
Tiananmen Square activist Liu Xiabo was taken from his home by security police several weeks ago. A few hours later, without trial, he was ordered to serve three years in a labor camp. Similar sentences were handed out during the summer to veteran dissidents Liu Nianchun and Chen Longde.
In all three cases, their only anti-government activities involved issuing or signing petitions calling for an end to various forms of repression in China.
Police action has also been stepped up against suspected religious separatists in Tibet and in the northwest Xinjiang province.
Western countries eager for business opportunities in the world's most populous country have done little more than clear their throats over the continuing crackdown against non-violent dissent.
"China can pretty well do what it wants these days," admitted one Western diplomat. "The West is not at the point where it is ready to gang up and take the same position on these matters. Right now, no one wants to run the risk of being put on a blacklist by speaking out too critically in public. Overall, I think China must be very satisfied."
There's no evidence of increased respect for human rights in China, despite the billions of dollars of foreign investment pouring in every year. In fact, most observers say the situation is getting worse.
"My impression is that the government has decided it cannot take any form of dissent," the Western diplomat said. "It's an indication of the fragility of the current regime. On the one hand, they want to show the conservatives in the Party that they can be tough on those poor kids. At the same time, they don't feel they can afford anyone even slightly rocking the boat by speaking out."
Wang's mother, who intends to act as one of his lawyers despite her lack of legal training, holds out little hope. "The charges do not stand up. He has done nothing wrong," Wang Lingyun told reporters last week. "But I'm not optimistic."
Meanwhile, China's most well-known prisoner, Wei Jingsheng, reportedly is having a grim time less than a year into his 14-year sentence for conspiring to overthrow the government.
Following a recent visit, Wei's sister said her brother was sharing a cell with six other prisoners who regularly harass him to prevent him from sleeping. The light in the cell is never turned off. Wei's various medical problems are also becoming worse, she reported.
"His spirits have also reached an unprecedented low," a human-rights organization quoted her as saying. "Wei showed none of his usual optimism and light-heartedness during the visit, as he had always shown in the past, even under the most adverse circumstances."
Wei previously served 15 years in jail. If he serves the entire length of his current sentence, he will have spent longer in jail than South Africa's Nelson Mandela, despite having never formed a political organization or planned anything approaching the anti-apartheid activities of Mandela.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.)