The brother-in-law of imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to 11 years of prison on Sunday, the New York Times reports.
The sentencing comes on the heels of President Barack Obama’s weekend summit with Xi Jinping, the leader of China’s Communist Party:
The verdict against Liu Hui came as Xi Jinping, the new leader of the Communist Party, and President Obama wrapped up a two-day summit meeting in California. Some analysts and human rights advocates interpreted its harshness as a message to the Obama administration that China’s new leaders do not intend to bow to Western pressure on human rights. There have been other notable infringements on human rights in recent months, including the detentions of at least 15 people this spring who had separately called for officials to disclose their assets; of those, 10 have been charged with various crimes, including inciting the subversion of state power.
On the Liu Hui verdict, "the timing was interesting, with Xi Jinping meeting with Obama in California," said Nicholas Bequelin, an Asia researcher for Human Rights Watch. "It was kind of a slap in the face."
Human rights activists urged Obama to press Jinping on the imprisonment of Xiaobo and other political prisoners before the summit.