The morning of 21 October 2011, pro-democracy activist, Cao Haibo was arrested by the Kunming Public Security Bureau on charges of “incitement to subvert state power.” Reports say his arrest was sudden, carried out by four plainclothes police officers who failed to show any formal documents for his arrest and who also prohibited him from notifying anyone. A few days thereafter, police officers raided his home, taking with them three telephones, a computer, a USB stick, and two bank cards among other things.

A victim of China’s oppressive authoritarian regime for most of his life, Liu Xianbin has repeatedly spoken out for human rights and democracy while sacrificing his own freedom. Liu and Chinese dissident writers Du Daobin and Zhou Yuanzhi are plaintiffs in a lawsuit against Cisco, Systems Inc., currently pending in Federal Court in Maryland. Over the past decade, Cisco has enabled the Chinese Ministry of Public Security to crack down on dissent through highly sophisticated internet surveillance technology, known as the “Golden Shield Project”. Were it not for Cisco’s help , the Chinese Communist Party may not have had the tools and technology to persecute, punish and torture Liu for his peaceful and non-violent internet activities. (Download pdf of translated articles from Cisco's Chinese website about PSB business deals here.)

Born in 1968 in Sichuan Province, Liu Xianbin was attending Renmin University in Beijing when the pro-democracy student movement swept China. He participated in the 1989 protests, including the blocking of military vehicles in Tiananmen Square. Having lost faith in Communist Party rule, Liu helped to organize an anti-communist group and began writing articles criticizing the repression and violent crackdown of the Tiananmen incident and pushing for the establishment of a democratic party. For these "crimes", he was arrested in 1991 and eventually sentenced to 2.5 years in prison on charges of "counterrevolutionary propaganda and incitement," yet this was only the beginning of Liu’s activism.

Du Daobin is one of the earliest cyber dissident writers in China.  By the time of his detention in October 2003, he had published tens of articles on the internet at home and abroad. In June 2004 he was charged with “inciting to subvert state power” and sentenced to 3 years’ imprisonment. Instead of serving his prison sentence immediately, it was postponed while he spent 4 years under probation. In June of 2008, on the eve of the Summer Olympics to be held in China, the authorities accused Du of disobeying the rules of probation, as he had continued to write articles critical of the regime. Thus, after four years of probation, Mr. Du was sent to serve his 3-year prison term. While in prison, he was subjected to physical and psychological torture and was held under the most stringent control.  He was forced to sit on a low bench for two months, which led to cardiac prolapse. After this incident, due to malnutrition and potassium deficiency, he lost his ability to walk and for a long time he was dependent on a wheelchair. Although today he is free and able to walk, Du remains under close watch. Who is this man that China views as such a threat, and what is it about his writings that has the government so nervous?

Du Daobin was born in Wuhan, Hubei Province in 1964. Formerly an employee of the district government, Du was a firm believer of communism. He read the works of Marx, Lenin, and Mao Zedong and took up writing poetry. After the tragic events of the 1989 protests, Du sympathized with the students and strongly opposed the killing that occurred. Before officially becoming a Party member, he retracted his application. He began to write works in support of the democracy movement and since 1997 he has been exploring the ideas of liberalism and promoting China's path to democracy. Originally a supporter of the movement, as Du became more outspoken, he too became a victim of the government’s crackdown on freedom of speech. Starting in 2001, Du published articles on a number of Chinese websites, calling for fair treatment of city and rural dwellers, social security and fair wages for farmers, and for the abolishment of the discriminatory policies of usury towards farmers. He also published articles on foreign websites, severely criticizing Chinese Communist Party ideals and the one-party dictatorship system and policy.

Below is the translation of an article written by the prominent author and dissident Yu Jie on July 7th, 2010. Yu Jie was recently interrogated by government officials. This long, but interesting article details the conversation that took place between Mr. Yu and his interrogator. The original Chinese article can be viewed here.

Censorship Everywhere in China-My Second Interrogation by the Chinese Police
-Yu Jie

“The real symbol of China’s openness should be: when asked at a press conference what his favorite book is, Premier Wen Jiabao would show China’s Best Actor Wen Jiabao, a book by Yu Jie, to the audience and say, ‘This book, certainly this one. It is my best reference.”-from Twitter username: “Playboy”

July 5 2010, Officer Li called me at 10 am, notifying me that the officers from the municipal State Security Bureau wanted to talk to me at the police station in my neighborhood at 3 pm that day. I refused, because I was busy finalizing my new book China’s Best Actor Wen Jiabao, which is to be published in half a month. The state security officers get paid for their time “talking to” people like me, since it is part of their job. But I cannot waste my time, and it is certainly my civil right to refuse their demands. (Read more after the jump)

On June 28, democracy activist Liu Xianbin was arrested in Suining city in southern Sichuan for “inciting subversion of state power.” This came after Liu’s recent release from prison in November 2008 after already serving a sentence for “subversion of state power,” a very similar crime. This previous sentence began in 1999, totaling 10 years by the time of his release. However, despite this arrest, Liu returned to promoting democracy and human rights activism and has become an important figure in the activist community in Sichuan. Renee Xia, director of the Chinese Human Rights Defenders, believes that Liu's prominent role led to his recent arrest, and shows that the government is growing increasingly nervous about activism in the province. It was reported that approximately 14 policeman were involved in Liu’s arrest, during which they raided his house for computers, credit cards, and copies of articles that he had written for foreign websites. The following day security officials harassed Liu’s wife and his 13 year-old daughter.