The BBC in reporting today that a Chinese human rights advocate is being jailed for sending a tweet. The incident occurred last month when Cheng Jianping’s fiancé (who is also a human rights advocate) sent a tweet insinuating that those protesting Japan’s presence at the Shanghai Expo would make more impact is they just smashed Japan’s pavilion space. Cheng retweeted this comment, adding the words “Charge, angry youth”.
Ten days later she was in police custody and is now sentenced to one year of re-education through labor. The charge was “disrupting social order”. The Chinese authorities keep a close eye on comments made on social networking sites like Twitter. Even though the site is officially blocked in mainland China, some people do find ways to access it.
Cheng Jianping’s fiancé, Hua Chunhui is trying to get her released to serve her sentence at home, but the government has not budged.
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