China jails dissident Zhu Yufu over poem sent on Skype Prosecutors in Zhu Yufu's trial for subversion cited text messages that he sent using Skype. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images A Chinese court has sentenced a veteran dissident to seven years in jail, his son said. Zhu Yufu was jailed for "inciting subversion of state power" by a court in Hangzhou, eastern China, after a trial hearing on 31 January when prosecutors cited a poem and messages he had sent on the internet, his son Zhu Ang told Reuters. The poem said: "It's time, Chinese people! It's time. The Square belongs to all. References to a "square" might evoke memories among many Chinese people of Tiananmen Square in Beijing, though the poem did not mention it or the 1989 pro-democracy protests. Prosecutors also cited text messages that he sent using Skype. There was no suggestion that the online chat service helped police to collect evidence. "The court verdict said this was a serious crime that deserved stern punishment," said Zhu Ang, 31, who said he was allowed to attend the court hearing with his mother. Now my mother is terribly upset, even if we saw this coming. He said the verdict cited his father's online calls for mobilisation in the name of democracy. Basically, the only chance that my father had to say anything was when he was being taken out after the hearing, and he stopped and said: 'I want to appeal.' The jailing comes as the Chinese vice-president, Xi Jinping, who is expected to succeed Hu Jintao as Communist party chief later this year and as state president from early next year, leaves on Monday for Washington, where he is likely to face criticism over China's punishment of independent political activity and clampdown in Tibetan areas. The US vice-president, Joe Biden, who will host Xi, met advocates to discuss the "deterioration" of rights in China, the White House said on Thursday, signalling the issue is likely to figure in talks. At a briefing about the trip, a senior Chinese diplomat, Cui Tiankai, indicated his government would not welcome being publicly criticised by the Obama administration over rights. "There are some people who always grab hold of the human rights banner when they want to speak ill of China," he said. The sentencing of Zhu followed the jailing of two other Chinese dissidents in December who received prison terms of 10 and nine years on subversion charges. Such charges are often used to punish ardent advocates of democratic change.