China, although increasing its encouragement of use of the Internet for business and education, tightly controls Web content, censoring anything relating to the government. Blogs are often shut down and those who post articles that promote a Western-style democracy may find themselves detained and jailed under vaguely worded subversion charges.

Jiang Lijun, 39, was sentenced to four years in prison in November 2003 for subversive activities aimed at overthrowing the ruling Communist Party.

Hong Kong-based Yahoo Holdings Ltd., a unit of Yahoo Inc., gave authorities a draft e-mail that had been saved on Jiang's account, but Yahoo spokeswoman Mary Osako said the California based company is not familiar with Jiang's case.

"We condemn punishment of any activity internationally recognized as free expression, whether that activity takes place in China or anywhere else in the world," she said.

The draft e-mail, entitled "Declaration," is similar to other documents Yahoo has handed over to the government. Past "physical evidence and written evidence" to "make preparations for organizing a party and to use violence to overthrow the Communist Party" helped jail to other Internet activists, the verdict said.

As more evidence surfaces, it is clear that Jiang and the other jailed journalists were important activists who called for political reform.

"Little by little we are piecing together the evidence for what we have long suspected, that Yahoo is implicated in the arrest of most of the people we have been defending," Reporters Without Borders said in a statement.

Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. also have been accused of enforcing Chinese censorship guidelines.

Google started a Chinese version of its popular search engine that omits links to content deemed unacceptable by the government. Link to recent Google news in China. 

Source: ABC News [Through the European Journalism Centre]