At his trial last week, rights defense lawyer and New Citizens Movement founder Xu Zhiyong remained silent in protest. Widely considered a moderate working within the system, Xu’s sentencing to four years in prison has disheartened many hoping for reform in China. (Badiucao for CDT Chinese)

A “citizen” sits in the defendant’s box. The characters reading “citizen” are in Sun Yat-sen’s hand. Businessman Wang Gongquan tried to use the white words on a blue background as his Weibo avatar in 2012; the image has become a symbol of the New Citizens. Wang was detained last fall and released on bail last week after confessing that he had “organized and incited criminal activities to assemble a crowd to disrupt order in a public place” with Xu. (Cheng Tao)

Zhang Xiaodong, a surgeon in Shanghai, died of the H7N9 strain of avian flu on January 21. (Meng Chenshang)

From top left:

Star light star bright, I wish for reform tonight!
仰望星空，我想改革了！

Think again, boss! We all bought our way into office.
老大三思！我们的官位可都是高价买来的！

[pause]

Welp, time for bed!
洗洗睡吧！

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) has released the names of over 37,000 clients of offshore banking. The family of some Chinese ruling elite are on the list, including Xi Jinping’s brother-in-law. (Hexie Farm)

Jiang Jiemin, former director the State Council Assets Supervision and Administration Commission Director, talks with his mouth full. “I knew from the start that there wasn’t any filling in these dumplings, so I went to an offshore money launderer.” Jiang came under investigation for corruption last summer. He succeeded Zhou Yongkang at China National Petroleum Corp., and is just one of a number of former associates caught in the Zhou dragnet. Jiang is not listed in the ICIJ database, but was allegedly involved in an overseas money laundering scheme with Zhou’s son, Zhou Bin [zh]. (Jiu’an)

A nine-year-old boy reportedly hanged himself after learning his mother would not be home for the New Year, which begins January 31. Rebel Pepper renders the child hanging from his Young Pioneer’s scarf. His death is just the latest tragedy in the ongoing struggles of China’s “left-behind” children, who grow up without their parents. (Rebel Pepper)

“New Year Picture” (Blue Windmill)

“Going Home for New Year” (Stubborn Baldy)