And here’s more proof:

Four farmers who appealed in Beijing against corruption and ill treatment have instead found themselves charged with disclosing state secrets and face up to five years in prison.
The farmers were evicted from their land, which was part of the area to be submerged in the controversial Three Gorges Dam project. They claimed that they were the victims of unreasonable treatment and corruption by the building authorities, yet the authorities have denied their claims and the four now face charges of their own.

According to reports from the South China Morning Post, two international human rights organizations, Probe International and Human Rights Watch, asked the Chinese government to release the four detained farmers. They also called for support from the countries assisting with the dam construction and from the World Bank Group to ask Beijing to release the detainees. The two human rights organizations have started an open investigation into the claims that officials abused their authority and mistreated the residents.

An official from Human Rights Watch pointed out that this incident is similar to the case of the recent arrest of a scholar who exposed corruption in the local government. The official added that corruption in China is widespread, but due to a lack of freedom of speech and an independent judicial system, anyone who tries to expose the corruption runs a huge risk of facing trumped-up charges that will see them imprisoned for a long time.

Kind of speaks for itself, don’t you think? Keep those reforms coming.