President Barack Obama's meek visit to China last month confirmed that the United States is taking a much more conciliatory approach toward a seemingly more confident Beijing in a bid to secure bilateral cooperation on a range of global issues. But the Communist Party's decision to sentence Liu Xiaobo to jail on Christmas Day, while barring Western diplomats from entering the courtroom, is revealing because it shows not confidence and strength, but insecurity and vulnerability.
Mr. Liu is no ordinary dissident: He was one of the main authors of Charter 08, a human-rights manifesto modeled on the Charter 77 document that inspired Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe. Charter 08 called for a new Chinese constitution, freedom of speech and assembly, an independent judiciary and democratic elections for all levels of government. Arrested in June, Mr. Liu's plight was followed not only by Western journalists, but importantly, by prominent U.S. politicians, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
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