China pressured over Net dissident
By Willy Wo-Lap Lam
CNN Senior China Analyst
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The Internet is a popular outlet for Chinese dissidents.
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(CNN) -- About 500 intellectuals in China and overseas have signed a petition urging Beijing to free Internet essayist Du Daobin, who was detained late last month for allegedly "subverting the state administration."
Du, a native of central Hubei Province, had in the past couple of years posted articles on Chinese and overseas Web sites demanding an end to censorship and harassment of writers.
He also criticized official abuses such as corruption and the misuse of public funds for prestige projects.
The petition, addressed to Premier Wen Jiabao, said the Chinese Constitution had given citizens the right of free expression and it was illegal for police in Du's native Hubei Province to detain the writer.
It warned that "states and governments that perpetrate terrorist rule" would lose their legitimacy.
Signatories to the protest letter, which is mostly circulated in overseas Chinese-language websites, include famous scholars and writers Liu Xiaobo, Bao Zunxin, Yu Jie and Yu Shicun.
Well-known U.S.-based dissidents including Wang Dan and Yan Jiaqi have also supported the petition.
So far, the authorities have not taken action against China-based signatories of the bold petition, which also called on Beijing to release several other Internet essayists incarcerated since last year.
A Beijing-based newspaper editor said Chinese intellectuals had demanded the release of 23-year-old college student Liu Di, who had been held without charge for a year.
Using the pen name Stainless Steel Mouse, Liu had criticized feudalistic and undemocratic practices in the party and government.
The editor cited judicial sources as saying one reason Liu had been detained for so long was the courts lacked enough evidence to prosecute the student, who had a large following on the Net.
According to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, 17 intellectuals have been imprisoned in China for writing or distributing information online.
Since the spring, party and government authorities have boosted censorship over the official media and closed down a number of liberal-leaning Web sites.
