China sentences 2nd legal activist

BEIJING — A Chinese legal rights activist was sentenced to 7½ years in prison on subversion charges Wednesday, in the second in a series of cases underscoring the ruling Communist Party’s determination to rein in government critics.

State broadcaster CCTV said Hu Shigen had pleaded guilty to “subversion, damaging national security and harming social stability” at the start of his hearing before the Tianjin No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court.

Hu had been sentenced in 1994 to 20 years in prison on the now-abolished charge of counterrevolution in connection with his political activities, but was released in 2008 after his sentence was reduced.