Beijing (AsiaNews /
Agencies) - Chinese authorities this morning released Chinese dissident Wang
Xiaoning, sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of "inciting the
population to subvert state power" through the use of internet. His
identification and arrest took place in 2002 with the help of the American
giant Yahoo!, which provided the Chinese government the personal data of his email
setting off protests around the world.
The confirmation of his release was given by his wife, Yu Ling, alleging that
her husband was "in good physical and spirit" but "can not give interviews'
part of the conditions for his release." This ban has become a practice by
the communist authorities, who threaten dissidents with a return to prison"
(even if they have served their sentence whole) in the event of contact with
the international press.
Wang, a former engineer, was a pioneer of online dissent. With scattered
articles for various blogs and forums in China,
he launched a campaign calling on the government to stop the one-party
dictatorship run by communists and open a new era for democracy in China.
The collaboration of the American computer giant with the Chinese authorities
allowed Beijing
to arrest him, resulting in a public outcry against Yahoo!, which later "apologized"
for what happened but again in 2005 helped the government to detain the journalist Shi Tao (still in jail).
In 2007, a U.S.
court ruled against Yahoo! over its actions against human rights. The computer
company bargained
compensation for the families of the two dissidents, recognizing that it
had furthered repression in China.