China activist who probed student deaths in 2008 earthquake charged with subversion

September 19th, 2009 Strong earthquake hits western ChinaBEIJING — Officials say a strong earthquake has shaken western China but there are no reports of injuries or serious damage. The U.S. Geological Survey says the magnitude-5.4 quake struck at 4:54 p.m.

August 31st, 2009 XINING - An earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale Monday jolted the Qinghai province in northwestern China, officials said. The quake occurred at 6.15 p.m.

August 12th, 2009 Chinese police detain supporters of quake criticBEIJING — A high-profile Chinese government critic said he and 11 others were detained by police in a hotel Wednesday to prevent them from attending the trial of an activist who investigated the deaths of thousands of schoolchildren in last year's earthquake. Artist Ai Weiwei, who was a consultant for the Beijing Olympics Bird's Nest stadium, said police in the southwestern city of Chengdu also roughed up him and another supporter who tried to attend the trial of Tan Zuoren, an activist charged with subversion.

August 12th, 2009 China opens trial of earthquake criticBEIJING — The subversion trial of a Chinese activist who had investigated the deaths of thousands of schoolchildren in a massive earthquake opened in southwestern China, as police detained and threatened the man's supporters. The start of Tan Zuoren's trial Wednesday came amid growing reports of detentions and trials of dissidents and activist lawyers in an apparent crackdown to stifle dissent ahead of the sensitive 60th anniversary of the Communist state's founding on Oct.

August 6th, 2009 Founder of Chinese political group to be triedBEIJING — The founder of a Chinese group that challenged Communist rule with a call for multiparty democracy will plead not guilty at his upcoming subversion trial, his lawyer said Thursday. Guo Quan has been detained numerous times since founding the China New Democracy Party in 2007, most recently in November in the central city of Nanjing in Jiangsu province.

July 10th, 2009 An earthquake that took place on the Thursday evening destroyed almost 10,000 homes in the south west of China, as has been reported by the state media. Almost 336 people were reported to have been injured and one dead, when the moderate earthquake hit the six counties in the quake prone region.

July 9th, 2009 More than 300 injured by quake in ChinaBEIJING — State media says an earthquake has rocked southwestern China and injured at least 336 people. The Xinhua News Agency said the magnitude-6.0 quake in Yunnan province damaged some 2,700 homes on Thursday night.

June 24th, 2009 Chinese media says dissident Liu Xiaobo arrestedBEIJING — Prominent dissident Liu Xiaobo, who co-authored a manifesto calling for sweeping reforms to China's rigid political system, has been arrested for activities allegedly aimed at overthrowing the country's socialist system, state media said Wednesday. Liu has been in police custody since they took him away on Dec.

May 9th, 2009 Report: 5,335 students dead/missing in China quakeBEIJING — China on Thursday released its first official tally of students who died or went missing in last year's Sichuan earthquake — 5,335 — but denied allegations of corruption and shoddy construction — a politically charged issue that has been an enduring source of grief to parents. Tu Wentao, head of the Sichuan's provincial education department, said 5,335 schoolchildren died or went missing in the massive May 12 quake, and another 546 have been certified as disabled from injuries they sustained.

May 9th, 2009 China: 5,335 students dead, missing in 2008 quakeBEIJING — A year after the massive Sichuan earthquake leveled hundreds of schools, sparking allegations of corruption and shoddy construction, China finally gave Thursday its first official tally of the numbers of students dead or missing: 5,335. The government began its count hours after the magnitude-7.9 temblor razed huge portions of the southwestern province on May 12, 2008, but has refused until now to say how many students were among the nearly 90,000 people killed or missing.

May 8th, 2009 China says 5,335 students died in Sichuan quakeBEIJING — China said Thursday that 5,335 students died in last year's Sichuan earthquake, the first official tally for students in what became a politically charged issue because of allegations of shoddy school construction. The official Xinhua News Agency said the overall death toll for Sichuan province in the May 12 earthquake was unchanged at 68,712.

April 1st, 2009 BEIJING - China has detained an environmentalist and writer on suspicion of subversion after he initiated an independent investigation into the May 2008 Sichuan earthquake, a rights group said Wednesday. Tan Zuoren, a local activist based in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, was accused of 'inciting subversion of state power' after mobilising volunteers to investigate why school buildings collapsed in the earthquake, the Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) said in a statement.

January 24th, 2009 BEIJING - China ushered in the traditional lunar Year of the Ox with a massive fireworks display Sunday night in its capital Beijing. China's transportation authorities reported an increase of more than 20 percent in train passengers within the last three days, compared with last year.

January 14th, 2009 BEIJING - An earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale Thursday hit China's Wenchuan County, which was the epicentre of the May 12 earthquake last year that left more than 87,000 people dead or missing, an official said. According to the National Earthquake Network Center, the earthquake took place in Wenchuan County in southwest China's Sichuan Province at 2.23 a.m.

December 22nd, 2008 BEIJING - An earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale struck southwest Taiwan Tuesday morning, the earthquake network centre of China said. The quake hit Kaohsiung county at around 8:04 a.m.