CONDITIONAL

China Lawyer Gets Suspended Jail Term

Pu Zhiqiang gets delayed sentence for three years.

One of China’s most prominent human-rights lawyers was handed a three-year suspended jail sentence, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported Monday. A Beijing court found Pu Zhiqiang guilty of “inciting ethnic hatred” and “provoking trouble” for writing social-media posts between 2011 and 2014 that were the critical of the ruling Communist Party. It wasn’t clear if Pu would be immediately released from detention. The sentence means Pu could be monitored during the suspended period, with the possibility of a reduced sentence for good behavior. The verdict is the latest in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s crackdown on dissidents.