China sentenced reporter Li Yuanlong to
two years in jail on Thursday, adding to its list of writers
imprisoned for expressing themselves through the country’s
expanding but tightly censored internet.

Li, who worked on the Bijie Daily in the southwestern
province of Guizhou, was detained in September and charged in
February with issuing essays that "fabricated, distorted and
exaggerated facts, incited subversion of the state and (sought)
to overthrow the socialist system."

He sent the offending essays by e-mail between May and
August last year using the pseudonyms "Night Wolf" and "Wolf
Howling in the Night."

"I feel it’s very unjust," Li’s wife, Yang Xiumin, told
Reuters of the sentence. "To give such a heavy sentence just
for a few essays isn’t rule of law. It’s not justice."

Li is one of a growing number of Chinese citizens
imprisoned for speaking out on the Internet. Zhao Changqing was
sentenced to five years in prison in 2003 on the same charges
as Li after participating in an Internet open letter to China’s
parliament.

In March, a Chinese court jailed a teacher, Ren Ziyuan, for
10 years for publishing anti-government views on the Internet.

Li’s essays on touchy issues, including unemployment and
rural poverty, were sent to U.S.-based Chinese-language news
portals considered hostile by Beijing and blocked to most
Chinese users.

His lawyer, Li Jianqiang, said Li would appeal the sentence
imposed by a Bijie court, but added it was lighter than many
expected.

"Legally, to sentence him to even one or two days was
wrong, but given China’s judicial environment this wasn’t as
bad as it could have been," the lawyer said. An international
outcry over Li’s case probably helped his cause, he said.

Li’s wife said he would be due for release in September
2007, if he serves the full sentence.