It’s bad news not only for Internet essayist Du, but for everyone who was looking to his case as proof of a kinder, gentler CCP.

Only a few days ago I posted that Du appeared on the verge of release as prosecutors handed the case back to the police for lack of evidence. Then, out of the blue, Xinhuanet reports his formal arrest:

Chinese police has arrested a man in the central province of Hubei for posting subversive messages on the Internet, said a police spokesman Tuesday.

The spokesman with the Hubei Provincial Public Security Bureau said that since 2001, 39-year-old Du Daobin had written and posted 28 articles on the Internet, inciting subversion of China’s state power and overthrow of China’s socialist system.

Du, who worked with the medical insurance office of Yingcheng City before his arrest in November 2003, also accepted funds from overseas organizations and individuals, and in return helped them post articles harmful to state security on domestic websites, saidthe spokesman.

The spokesman said facts had shown that Du had overstepped his legal rights of criticizing government work and government functionaries with good intentions, and viciously incited subversion of state power through fabrications. His acts had made him a suspect of the crime of inciting subversion of state power.

Du had confessed to the major facts of his crime, and judicial inquiry into the case is still going on, said the spokesman.

Are we really supposed to believe that Du confessed that he “viciously incited subversion”? I don’t believe it for a minute.

The story is very short, and I honestly can’t say precisely what it means. But it doesn’t look like anything good. My immediate guesss is that the police finally came up with enough “evidence” to merit his formal arrest and trial. We’ll be watching carefully.

Link via Douglas, in a post at LiC.