China jails earthquake activist

A Chinese court has sentenced a veteran dissident convicted of spying to three years in prison. Huang Qi was convicted of illegally possessing state secrets by the Wuhou district court in the western city of Chengdu, his wife Zeng Li said by telephone. Zeng said no details were given about the charge, an ill-defined accusation often used by Communist leaders to clamp down on dissent and imprison activists. Huang was detained on 10 June 2008 after posting articles on his website criticising the government's response to the May 2008 earthquake in Sichuan province that killed about 90,000 people. Huang also spoke to foreign media about parents' criticism that their children had been crushed in badly built schools. The government has tried to suppress such complaints.