CCP Officials criticise jailing of Liu Xiaobo

Positive news from China coming courtesy of the Guardian. Four communist party officials have signed a letter calling for Liu Xiaobo's release:

Four senior Communist party officials known for their liberal views are pushing for the release of an imprisoned Chinese dissident who had called for political reform.

The four have signed a strongly worded letter addressed to "incumbent party and government leaders", urging authorities to reconsider the verdict against Liu Xiaobo, who was sentenced in December to 11 years in prison on subversion charges.

The letter did not call specifically for Liu's release, but He Fang, one of its signatories, said its purpose was "to reverse the verdict and to find that Liu is not guilty and to release him. Also, to safeguard the constitution and the rights of freedom of speech."

Liu was the co-author of Charter 08, an unusually direct appeal for political liberalisation in China, which was signed by more than 300 people including some of China's top intellectuals. Rights groups have said the harshness of Liu's sentence was a warning to others who challenged China's one-party rule.

The open letter was written by Hu Jiwei, a former editor of the People's Daily newspaper, a mouthpiece of the Communist party. The signatories are all in their 80s and 90s, according to the letter; their age could provide them with a degree of protection from harassment.

It said the main evidence against Liu was that he had called for the establishment of a Chinese "federal republic." Hu and other signers contend that the term was a "correct slogan" used in the early days of the Chinese Communist party.

"If the judge violates the constitution and has no knowledge of the history of the party … and makes false and incorrect accusations that will seriously tarnish the image of the country and the party, then it's difficult to prove that China is a country ruled by law and a harmonious society," said the letter.

The other signers were Li Pu, a former deputy chief of the official Xinhua news agency, and Dai Huang, a former Xinhua senior reporter. He Fang is an honorary member of the academic committee at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Liu, a former university professor, spent 20 months in jail for joining the 1989 student-led protests in Tiananmen Square. He has been the only person arrested over the charter, but rights groups said several signers had been harassed or fired from their jobs.