Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to 11 years in jail today. He was convicted of inciting subversion of state power earlier this week. He has been detained since winter 2008 after the release of Charter 08, of which he was a founding signatory. Mr. Liu was the only signatory to be detained although several others have been intimidated. Other signatories have rallied to Mr Liu's cause, stating that they were equally guilty and willing to suffer punishment. International diplomats, as well as Mr Liu's wife, were denied access to the trial. Mr Liu is believed to have claimed he was not guilty as free speech is protected by China's constitution.
Five more people have been sentenced to death for their role in riots in Xinjiang earlier this year. Another five were sentenced to death with a two year reprieve. This sentence is usually commuted to life imprisonment. Reports suggest that the five sentenced to death were all ethnic Uighurs. Riots broke out in July between Uighurs and Han Chinese after reports of the murder a Uighur man in the south of China. Ethnic tensions have long troubled the area.
Chinese car maker, Geely, has agreed a $2 billion deal to buy Volvo from Ford. Ford is selling off a number of high end car brands in an effort to consolidate after the financial crisis. Ford bought Volvo for almost $6 billion in 1999. Geely hopes that it can benefit from Volvos high safety standards and expertise in high tech-low carbon cars.
Due to the prospect of full-time employment elsewhere, this blog will have to be revised. At the very least I will not be able to write it at the time that I do now. As such there will probably be some irregularities over the next couple of weeks as I settle into the new regime, however, I hope to keep it going as much as I can, thanks for all your support,
No comments:
Post a Comment