Beijing (AsiaNews) – After a year of detention in an undisclosed location, Liu Xiaobo, a Christian human rights activist, was convicted of "inciting subversion of state power" and sentenced to 11 years in prison on 25 December. The very important reflection that follows concern that trial against the non-violent dissident.

On December 23, at 9 am, Chinese authorities used the dirtiest of pens to write down these dirtiest of words: the Trial of Liu Xiaobo. On December 23, at 9 am, Dr. Liu Xiaobo used the cleanest of pens to write down these cleanest of words: I am not guilty. Trembling with fear, the Chinese court of law withdrew to a confined space to powerlessly fabricate charges against Liu Xiaobo. Many, many people in the world have used their most resounding voices to shout the words: Free Dr. Liu Xiaobo. Right now, the words that I most want to say are: The Chinese government’s trial of Liu Xiaobo today is the trial of universal human values.

Charter 08 is where universal human values have found footing in China. Whether in its first six articles or all nineteen, the Charter is permeated with the spirit of universal values. Like a nouveau riche flaunting his wealth and exploiting the weaknesses of others, the Chinese government seized the Achilles’ heel of the financial crisis in the West to try to deploy the “Beijing Consensus” and the “Chinese Model” to defeat universal human values, and sweep all things universal, such as freedom, human rights, equality, republicanism, democracy, and constitutional government, out of China. However, as a Netizen has said: Today is the day on which the No. 1 Beijing Intermediate People’s Court subverted state power with its concrete action. This trial that goes against the will of the people is accelerating the weakening of the regime’s moral foundation, and is making ever more people lose faith in the regime.

Yes, the moral foundation of the Beijing regime is like a rumbling tower about to collapse; once it topples, there will be no way to bring it back. With each passing day, the force of the moral impact of Charter 08 grows stronger. This is the real reason why the authorities are not releasing Dr. Liu Xiaobo, why they have spent more than a year looking for and interrogating the signers of Charter 08, one by one. Yet to this day, as hard as you might look around, not a single person has withdrawn from the Charter. Why? Because that’s the general trend! Chinese people have waited far, far too long for the civilized society of their dreams.

Today, Chinese authorities planned everything very meticulously. They put under control, one by one, every person who wanted to attend the trial. As soon as they found someone, they sent that person home. This dirty work was done very thoroughly. Even Dr. Liu’s wife, Liu Xia, was shut in, not allowed to leave her home. Now, the dirtiest of political trials has ended. The outcome of the Friday sentencing can be pretty much deduced. From this day forward, another round of even greater suffering for Dr. Liu Xiaobo has begun. His wife, Liu Xia, will again be going to the prison year after year to deliver food, coming and going without stopping as she did in the years past. We, who are involved in the same case, cannot go to prison with him, but as long as he spends even one day in jail, our minds cannot be at peace.