On a street in the middle of Shanghai, I wandered into a towering '20s edifice to admire its interior. Inside was a scene that would shock those who had been here just five years ago. The ground floor of the building had been converted into a stock brokerage, and hundreds of ordinary Chinese were furiously wagering on the local bourse. But this scene, similar to everyday life in financial capitals like New York or Tokyo, is hardly reflective of the freedoms enjoyed by individuals in China. In recent years, multinational businesses have flocked to China's urban areas, the country has entered the World Trade Organization, and Beijing has hired foreign PR specialists to repackage the country's image in advance of the 2008 Olympics. But alongside economic liberalization, human rights have actually deteriorated. Religious revivals, labor protests and Internet chat rooms-indeed, anything the government perceives as a threat to authority-all have triggered a wave of often brutal crackdowns. .

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