From the Financial Times (link)
A journalist who reported on alleged corruption among local officials in the central Chinese province of Hunan is to go on trial next week on blackmail charges, his wife said on Wednesday.
The case against journalist Yang Xiaoqing highlights the risks run by reporters who challenge entrenched interests in China, where government and Communist party officials often have considerable influence over courts and judicial authorities.
Mr Yang is to be tried in Hunan’s Longhui County despite concerns about possible involvement in the case by local political leaders angry about a series of stories he wrote last year.
