Human Rights Develop Before The Olympics

A Chinese land rights activist, Yang Chunlin, went on trial recently for protesting the Beijing Olympics. Yang (a laid off factory worker) collaborated with farmers whose land was taken from them for development purposes by the government. He gathered signatures on a letter in an attempt to gain land rights for farmers. That letter was later posted to the Internet. Yang argued in court that the land that the farmers lost had been taken wrongly because it was seized without the Cabinet’s permission. The official charge against Yang is subversion of state power. No doubt Beijing is trying to halt any dissent before the world visits China for the Summer Games.