China has ordered its media to report only positive news and has imprisoned a pro-democracy dissident amid a clampdown on dissent ahead of the most important meeting of the communist party in five years.
Media controls have been tightened, Aids activists detained and NGOs shut down as president Hu Jintao prepares for the 17th party congress, when the next generation of national leaders will be unveiled in a politburo reshuffle.

Chen Shuqing, who is a founder member of the banned China Democracy party, suffered the toughest punishment meted out so far when he was found guilty on Thursday of "inciting people to overthrow the government".

The intermediate people's court in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, sentenced him to four years in prison. Chen was an outspoken critic of the Communist party, although because of the tightly controlled traditional media his campaigning in recent years was largely restricted to the internet.
The free-speech group Reporters Without Borders said it was appalled by the verdict. "Courts taking their orders from the Communist party continue to crack down on cyber-dissidents," the Paris-based organisation said. "We reiterate our appeal for the release of Chen and the 50 other cyber-dissidents and internet users held in China."

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With the congress nearing - the exact date is a secret, but it is expected in October - the domestic media have been banned from conducting independent investigations of food and product safety stories. In Beijing the municipal propaganda department has issued detailed instructions to editors on how they should cover the test of traffic-easing measures, which started today. During the four-day trial more than 1m cars have been ordered off the roads. Local newspapers and TV stations can only report on the improvements to the environment and transportation. Interviews with inconvenienced commuters or images of overcrowded buses are forbidden.

Most state media have also been banned from reporting on the collapse of a bridge in southern China which killed at least 41 people. Reporters said local officials punched them and chased them from the scene of Monday's disaster.

On Wednesday the government issued new regulations that prohibit false news and illegal TV coverage. This is ostensibly a response to a fabricated report last month about cardboard being used as a filling for steamed buns. Zi Beijia, the TV journalist held responsible for the fake story, has been jailed for a year.

"This crackdown is a legal gun to the head to responsible journalists who want to report on the basis of facts," said Sophie Richardson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.