"China Sentences Activist to Prison for 'Picking Quarrels'", 3 Aug 2017

A Chinese court handed a four-year prison term to an activist known for documenting social unrest in China, in a case that has underscored Beijing’s harsh approach to managing labor tensions. Former migrant worker Lu Yuyu was sentenced...after being convicted of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,”...“Picking quarrels” is a vague legal term that authorities have used to prosecute dozens of activists and political dissidents, who have increasingly been the target of suppression...

A former migrant worker, Mr. Lu had worked with his girlfriend to collect information about public protests and worker strikes that he then tallied on social media. Authorities detained the couple in June 2016, closing a rare window on social unrest and labor tensions in China...

He published his findings on a blog that labor activists later relied on as a database on worker protests, which in recent years have climbed as China’s economy has slowed...