China jails young man for joining political party

A court in southern China's boomtown city of Shenzhen found Xue Mingkai guilty of subversion of state power because he joined the US-based China Democracy Party last April, Xue's mother Wang Shuqing said.

Xue was the latest of several people jailed in recent months for subversion or other vaguely defined laws that critics say are often used to silence dissent.

"This is very wicked, our country," Wang told The Associated Press by phone. "Chinese people have no human rights."

Human rights groups had said Xue faced up to 10 years in jail and three others he was in contact with had also been arrested and tried for subversion, in Liaoning, Hunan and Hubei provinces. The rulings on those cases could not immediately be found.

China allows a small number of officially recognised parties, although they serve as advisers to, rather than competitors with, the ruling Communist Party.

Xue's lawyers argued their client was not guilty because becoming a member of a political party did not amount to subversion, according to court documents posted on the Web site of the Chinese Human Rights Defenders group.