Chinese Dissident's Trial to Begin HONG KONG - A prominent Chinese dissident, Yang Maodong, and another activist were set to go on trial in southern China on Friday, the latest adversaries of the Communist Party's censorship and controls likely to be convicted and imprisoned for years on charges of disrupting public order. Mr. Yang, better known by his pen name, Guo Feixiong, and a co-defendant, Sun Desheng, were arrested in August 2013 and charged with assembling a crowd to disrupt public order. That and similar disorder charges have been used to convict many human rights advocates who challenged the government of Xi Jinping, the party leader and president, to disclose officials" wealth and relax censorship and repression of dissent. The two men will be tried in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province. A first attempt to try them was cut short in September after they said they would remain silent throughout the proceedings and their lawyers boycotted the trial. Mr. Yang and Mr. Sun said they would vigorously defend themselves this time, according to Zhang Lei and Li Jinxing, the defense lawyers for Mr. Yang. Mr. Yang will "proclaim his innocence," Mr. Zhang said. Mr. Yang, 48, has been among the best known and most combative human rights campaigners in southern China. He gained prominence in 2005 when he helped to organize villagers near Guangzhou who were protesting corruption and land seizures. He was convicted and imprisoned in 2007 on charges of illegal business activities because of his publishing. But after his release in 2011, he energetically advocated political liberalization, and in January 2013 was among a group of activists who supported journalists at a newspaper in Guangzhou who protested censorship. Mr. Li, the defense lawyer, said that he was unsure how long the trial would last, but that a verdict was likely to be announced about a week after it ended.