In this photo taken early morning of Dec 24, 2017 and released by China Aid, Li Aijie, center in red with her son Li Mutian poses for a photo with the...
In this photo taken early morning of Dec 24, 2017 and released by China Aid, Li Aijie, center in red with her son Li Mutian poses for a photo with the airport staff and the staff and family members from China Aid near signs which reads "The people of Texas welcomes Li Aijie and son, Merry Christmas" and "Freedom Zhang Haitao" upon their arrival at the Midland International Airport in Midland, Texas. Li who is seeking political asylum in the U.S. is the wife of Zhang Haitao. Zhang who was sentenced to 19 years in prison had been a rare voice in China, a member of the Han ethnic majority and salesman by day who complained on social media about government policies he said were unfair to Muslim minority Uighurs. (China Aid via AP)
In this photo taken early morning of Dec 24, 2017 and released by China Aid, Li Aijie, center in red with her son Li Mutian poses for a photo with Bob...
In this photo taken early morning of Dec 24, 2017 and released by China Aid, Li Aijie, center in red with her son Li Mutian poses for a photo with Bob Fu of China Aid at left and Kendra Willard, at right from the family hosting the mother and son upon their arrival at the Midland International Airport in Midland, Texas. Li who is seeking political asylum in the U.S. is the wife of Zhang Haitao. Zhang who was sentenced to 19 years in prison had been a rare voice in China, a member of the Han ethnic majority and salesman by day who complained on social media about government policies he said were unfair to Muslim minority Uighurs. (China Aid via AP)
BEIJING (AP) — Chinese authorities have not only imposed a massive crackdown on Uighur (WEE'-ghur) activists in the far western region of Xinjiang (SHIN'-jee-ang), but also punished even moderate critics.
One of them is Zhang Haitao, a member of the Han ethnic majority and salesman by day who complained on social media about policies he said were unfair to the Muslim minority.
For that, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Zhang's lawyer says elsewhere in China, Zhang would have received no more than three years and may not have been prosecuted at all.
Zhang's wife says she had long feared a backlash despite her husband's relative obscurity. Xinjiang has been enveloped in a vast dragnet of police surveillance, which authorities say is needed to root out separatism and Islamic extremism.
