Asia-Pacific News
Number of Chinese political prisoners in 2007 "highest since 1999"
By DPA
Mar 17, 2008, 16:17 GMT

Beijing - The number of Chinese political prisoners rose in 2007 to its highest level in eight years, according to a report published Monday by the US-based Dui Hua Foundation.

According to report, arrests in China for 'endangering state security' rose from 561 in 2006 to 742 in 2007.

In the Chinese legal system, this category of crime (which in 1997 replaced 'counterrevolution') includes subversion, espionage, and so- called 'splittism' and the incitement thereof. The foundation said these laws are aimed at squelching dissent.

'These numbers remind us that in spite o all of the information that comes out of China about the government's crackdown on politcal dissent, for the most part the arrests are taking place out of the public view,' said Joshua Rosenzweig, manager of research and programmes at the Dui Hua Foundation.

'Even after all of our research, it turns out we still only know the names of two or three per cent of those being arrested,' he added.