WASHINGTON - THE United States on Wednesday denounced China's trial of leading Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo as a political one that is 'uncharacteristic of a great country'.
The 53-year-old Liu, a writer who was previously jailed over the 1989 Tiananmen pro-democracy protests, has been charged with 'inciting subversion of state power' after co-authoring a bold call for political reform last year.
His trial began Wednesday in Beijing.
State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said 'as far as we can tell, this man's crime was simply signing a piece of paper that aspires to a more open and participatory form government. That is not a crime'.
Mr Crowley, the assistant secretary of state for public affairs said 'clearly, a political trial that will likely lead to a political conviction is uncharacteristic of a great country'. He said it was no accident that China timed the trial as much of the western world prepared to celebrate Christmas.
'In all likelihood the verdict will be released on Christmas Day when it's designed to attract as little attention as possible,' he said. -- AFP
