Chinese president Xi Jinping is transforming his country into a “nightmare” for anyone who dares to oppose the Communist party, members of a US congressional committee claimed after a prominent free speech advocate was put on trial in Beijing amid scenes of violence.



Pu Zhiqiang, a 50-year-old lawyer whose clients have included the dissident artist Ai Weiwei, went before a court on Monday, nearly 19 months after he was detained in May 2014.

Supporters and human rights campaigners claim the criminal charges brought against Pu – which relate to seven online posts – are an attempt by senior Communist party leaders to silence the outspoken lawyer.

There were violent scuffles outside Beijing’s No 2 intermediate people’s court as Chinese police and undercover agents attempted to physically drive diplomats, activists and foreign journalists from the scene.



Dan Biers, a senior US diplomat, was prevented from reading a statement outside the courthouse after being barged over by security agents.



The moment Chinese police prevent senior US diplomat Dan Biers from giving statement outside Pu Zhiqiang trial pic.twitter.com/1qUioILXiK — Tom Phillips (@tomphillipsin) December 14, 2015

Writing on Twitter, Ai Weiwei condemned the government’s “wicked” treatment of Pu.

Members of the US congressional-executive commission on China added their voices to a growing chorus of criticism, using a statement to slam Beijing’s treatment of Pu, who is a survivor of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre.

“Even by China’s standards, the spectacle both inside and outside the court surrounding the trial of Pu Zhiqiang … was a mockery of justice and rule of law,” Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio said.



“Pu is the victim of political persecution by an authoritarian regime that is threatened by any form of individual expression deviating from Communist party orthodoxy,” added Rubio, who is the committee’s co-chair.

“While a verdict has not yet been announced, we can say with certainty that today marks a new low point in Xi Jinping’s ‘China Dream’, which is by virtually every measure a nightmare for China’s dissidents, lawyers, journalists, and millions of others, Pu foremost among them.”

Chris Smith, a Republican congressman who is the committee’s chair, accused Xi, who took power in 2012, of waging “an extraordinary assault on rights defenders and civil society”.

“Holding sham trials to convict rights defenders does nothing to demonstrate the Communist party’s strength or enhance its international prestige. Whatever the verdict may be, this trial is an indictment of the Chinese legal system and not Pu Zhiqiang,” he said, calling on Washington to bar the judges, prosecutors and security officials involved in Pu’s trial from travelling to the US.

Beijing has yet to make any official statement reacting to criticism of Pu’s trial.

However, an editorial in the Global Times, a Communist party-controlled tabloid, accused western “forces” of meddling in the case in order to embarrass China’s judiciary.

“Among similar cases in recent years, the west has intervened the most in Pu’s trial. Certain Chinese people are also active in expressing their voices,” the newspaper said.



“The court must not be influenced by these forces,” the newspaper added.

But the fervently nationalistic newspaper did hint that authorities could show some mercy to Pu. “If he is found guilty, the final verdict won’t be too severe,” it said.

Speaking on Tuesday, Pu’s lawyer, Mo Shaoping, said the trial represented a landmark case for freedom of speech in China and would set a new legal precedent over what internet users could – or could not – write online.

“In my view, this case will show where the limits are. This is the most important part of this case, because it is about defending [Chinese] citizens’ freedom of expression.”

Mo said he thought it was unlikely his client would be released immediately but said he hoped his sentence might be reduced to time already served.

Pu, who faces a maximum of eight years in prison, has been in police custody since he was detained after attending a memorial marking the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre nearly 19 months ago.

Additional reporting by Christy Yao

