From Reuters:
A U.S.-based press freedom watchdog is to honor a Chinese reporter who spent years behind bars after exposing a fraudulent irrigation project, the group said in a statement on Tuesday.
Gao Qinrong, who worked for China’s official Xinhua news agency, was sentenced to 12 years in jail at a closed trial in 1999 after exposing a huge Potemkin irrigation project in his arid home province of Shanxi.
The project was non-operational and consisted of a few tanks that were not linked to any irrigation pipes. It was intended to attract funds to government coffers and boost the careers of local cadres. [Full Text]
