Foul Play

As the Olympics draw near, China launches a vigorous crackdown on dissent

Campaigning for the honor of hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics, Chinese officials offered vague assurances about learning to respect human rights. But the lessons have not sunk in. Hu Jia, an imprisoned writer, will soon stand trial on the un-Jeffersonian charge of "inciting subversion of state power." His apparent crime: writing a statement saying that the skyscrapers and venues on display in Beijing from Aug. 8 to 24 rest on a foundation of "tears, imprisonment, torture and blood." Hu's co-author, Teng Biao, was plucked from the street by four men in plainclothes and interrogated for 41 hours. "Before they let me...

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