Even as China’s government amplifies efforts to silence a new generation of dissidents, its fight against an older generation may soon come to a symbolic end.

Miao Deshun, the last known person still in prison for crimes related to the 1989 Tiananmen Square democracy protests, is due to be released in October after being granted a sentence reduction, according to a San Francisco-based human-rights group that advocates on behalf of Chinese prisoners.

...