A courtroom in southern China has sentenced one of many nation’s most unyielding human rights activists to eight years in jail for essays he wrote and a web site he created, within the ruling Communist Party’s newest warning blow towards political dissent.

The activist, Yang Maodong, was detained in 2021 when he tried to catch a flight to the United States to be together with his spouse, who was gravely sick. Mr. Yang — who is best identified by his pen title, Guo Feixiong — was sentenced on the finish of a one-day trial on Thursday in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province. He was accused of “inciting subversion of state power.”

A responsible judgment from the Communist Party-controlled courtroom appeared assured, however the swiftness of Mr. Yang’s conviction and sentencing took his supporters abruptly. Chinese courts typically wait every week or longer after a trial earlier than asserting a choice. Mr. Yang was sentenced after a morning listening to that lasted round two hours.

China’s chief, Xi Jinping, over the previous decade in energy, has strengthened and emboldened the safety equipment to take away any perceived threats to the celebration’s rule. The police swiftly extinguished a flare-up of protests towards harsh “zero Covid” restrictions in late October final yr, when some demonstrators denounced Mr. Xi and the celebration.

But Mr. Xi and different leaders seem decided to ensure that no lingering sparks of opposition have an opportunity to ignite broader opposition. Mr. Yang’s sentencing got here one month after one other Chinese courtroom sentenced two prominent human rights lawyers, Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi, to 14 years and 12 years in jail.

In accusing Mr. Yang of inciting subversion — a obscure cost that quantities to denouncing the Communist Party — prosecutors cited essays that Mr. Yang had written over a few years, in addition to a pro-democracy web site he helped arrange, and an interview he gave, Mr. Yang’s brother, Yang Maoquan, said in a statement that was posted online.

According to the brother’s account of the proceedings, the prosecutors stated that Mr. Yang’s statements amounted to a “long-term assault on and vilification of China’s political system, inciting others to subvert state power.” Yang Maoquan’s account was confirmed by Mr. Yang’s sister, Yang Maoping, who was not on the trial however spoke to individuals who have been. Mr. Yang’s lawyer, Zhang Lei, declined to remark.

“He didn’t subvert anyone,” Ms. Yang, the sister, stated in a phone interview on Friday. “Who has the strength to subvert a country as big as this? Is it unacceptable just to speak out a few words?”

Still, Mr. Yang, 56, appeared unbowed, at the same time as he confronted his third jail stint. He began studying a protracted assertion that he had ready for the trial that defended his activism and beliefs, however a choose ordered him to cease after a couple of minutes. The assertion was published by Yibao, an abroad Chinese web site, and corroborated by Mr. Yang’s sister.

Since he first joined protests within the Nineteen Eighties, Mr. Yang stated in his assertion, “my political credo and ideals have never changed: for China to fully realize authentic freedom, democracy, human rights and rule of law. This is the original, foundational and ultimate intention of all my social, intellectual and academic activities.”

Mr. Yang has been one among China’s most persistent opponents of authoritarian rule. He turned extensively identified in activist circles in 2005, when he helped arrange villagers in southern China to protest land seizures that they stated have been corrupt and unfair.

He was sentenced to jail in 2007 on expenses of unlawful enterprise actions associated to publishing (Mr. Yang additionally wrote science-fiction novels.). After his launch, he resumed his political actions, and in 2013 he joined protests on the Southern Weekend newspaper in Guangzhou, the place journalists had denounced tightening censorship below Mr. Xi.

Mr. Yang was sentenced to six years in prison in 2015 on expenses of disturbing public order and “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” for his position within the newspaper protest and for supporting a marketing campaign for China to ratify a global rights covenant.

He was detained again in January 2021 when he sought to fly to the United States, the place his spouse, Zhang Qing, was within the late phases of most cancers. She and their two youngsters had settled there in 2009.

“He just wanted to visit his sick wife, fearing that maybe he would never see her again in this life,” stated Zan Aizong, a good friend of Mr. Yang’s in jap China who recalled assembly him in late 2021 and discussing his plans to succeed in the United States. “I guessed that he wouldn’t be allowed to leave, but he was very confident that he would get to see her, because this was plain humanitarianism.”

Mr. Yang went to Shanghai, hoping to take a flight to San Francisco. But airport officers instructed him that, as a “national security risk,” he couldn’t board the airplane, Mr. Yang stated on the time. He has been held ever since. His wife died nearly a yr after Mr. Yang’s tried flight.

Even in detention, Mr. Yang has defied the authorities, showing emaciated from frequent starvation strikes, stated his sister, Ms. Yang. She stated she apprehensive about whether or not he may endure years of detention earlier than his attainable launch. Even after his formal launch from jail, he’s prone to come below oppressive casual confinement, like many different dissidents.

“I’m really, really worried,” Ms. Yang stated.