Chinese authorities have arrested Huang Qi, the 36-year-old operator of a Web site that publishes news about the nation's dissident community and posts information about the Tiananmen Square massacre that killed hundreds -- possibly thousands -- of citizens in 1989, CNN reports.
Huang and his wife, Zeng Li, were picked up by authorities June 3, one day before the 11th anniversary of Tiananmen Square. Zeng was released three days later, but has since been told her husband has been charged with subversion. This charge is often used against political dissidents and can mean 10 years or more in prison, CNN reports.
Huang's site, the Chinese-language www.6-4tianwang.com, is based in southwestern China but is run by a U.S. Internet service provider. It offers a wide variety of news, including stories about governmental corruption, mistreatment of Falungong members and information and opinions about the Tiananmen crackdown, still a taboo topic in that communist nation, the news service reports.
English-language versions of many of the same stories can be found at the Hong Kong-based Information Center on Human Rights & Democracy site.
Hard-line Chinese leaders have used the police to censor local Web sites, monitor service providers and otherwise clamp down on online information.
Other news about the nation's dissident community and political prisoners can be found at the Complete Reference to China's Democracy and Chinese Dissidents Web Sites.
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