Chinese journalist, 71, appeals seven year jailing

BEIJING: A jailed 71-year-old Chinese journalist appealed on Tuesday against her seven year sentence, which triggered worldwide condemnation, as lawyers said China had imprisoned two other activists.
Dozens of police officers blocked access to the Beijing high court where Gao Yu appeared for an hour-long hearing "closed" to outsiders, her lawyer told AFP.
A former winner of Unesco’s World Press Freedom Prize, her jailing in April for "leaking state secrets" was condemned by free speech advocates worldwide.
China’s President Xi Jinping has in recent years overseen a crackdown on dissent which has seen hundreds of lawyers, activists and academics detained and dozens jailed.
The hearing came as two other political activists were sentenced to prison.
A court in southern China’s Shenzhen jailed activist Yang Lin for three years for "inciting subversion of state power", his lawyer Fan Biaowen said.
Yang was associated with the "Southern Street Movement," a loose-knit group who held small protests calling for political reform. Several of its members have been jailed. In the northeastern city of Harbin a lawyer for activist Chai Baowen said his client was given a three year sentence for "picking quarrels".
The charge was based on a single post Chai made on social media, criticising official accounts of a police shooting, attorney Yan Xin added.