The word “dissident” often strikes me as being vague in China.

I thought about it when news came in recently that Chinese activist Guo Feixiong had been convicted and sentenced to five years in jail.

First off, Guo Feixiong isn’t his real name. I didn’t even know that the first time I interviewed him back in mid-2005 in Guangzhou, where he was helping organize an uprising in the village of Taishi, where residents complained of corrupt leaders. His real name is Yang Maodong.

Second, he’s not a lawyer. Plenty of news articles describe him as a legal activist. In fact, he’s a creative writer who trained himself in the law. More accurately, he might be described as a self-trained “barefoot” lawyer.

Then there’s the bit about him being a “dissident.” Iconoclast? Yes. Social organizer? Yes. But Guo is also a nationalist, and therein hangs a little story.

Guo got arrested a few weeks or months after I first met him. Later, he passed word to my office about his experiences in detention. He said he had been ordered to do prison labor. He refused, and actually issued a legal protest about the matter.

I was intrigued. So I flew back down to Guangzhou to have dinner with Guo and discuss the prison labor issue. Now, everyone knows that prison labor is fairly common in China. I have a friend who does business in Latin America. On a buying trip to Shandong province, he arrived to visit a factory. But once there, a manager said he couldn’t tour inside. It was actually a prison.

In Guangzhou, Guo and I chatted, along with my assistant, and he offered some details about his life in detention. But then I spelled out to Guo that I wanted to investigate prison labor, what products are made in prisons, and who benefits from the huge cost advantages of such low-cost labor, Guo basically went mum.

To paraphrase, he said such a story would be harmful to China’s image and he would not collaborate. I was surprised. Stunned really. I thought that a fellow of his sensitivities would be interested in shedding light on the prison labor practice. But he was adamant in saying he thought such a story would end up hurting legitimate industries, and would do more harm than good. Thus, Guo’s patriotic and nationalist stripes emerged. It was an eye-opener.

Other than what Human Rights in China reports, I don’t know many details of Guo’s conviction following his September 2006 arrest. HRIC says Guo was convicted in Guangzhou Nov. 14 of “illegal business activity” and sentenced to 5 years’ imprisonment and fined 40,000 yuan (some $5,350).

Here are three paragraphs taken from their statement.

“The imposition of this heavy sentence for what appears to be a politically motivated prosecution has a chilling effect on other rights defenders and undermines China’s efforts to build a rule of law,” said HRIC Executive Director Sharon Hom. “This result following a procedurally flawed process, a year in detention, and reports of torture, is particularly ironic in the case of Guo Feixiong, who advocated the use of law to seek justice.”

Guo went on trial at Guangzhou’s Tianhe District Court on July 9, 2007, on charges of “illegal business activity” in connection with the publication of Shenyang Political Earthquake, a book concerning a political scandal in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province.

Guo was detained and beaten on a number of occasions in 2005 and 2006 before he was formally arrested. Since being taken into formal detention, he has told his lawyer that he has been subjected to severe physical abuse and round-the-clock interrogation, and he has reportedly gone on hunger strike for a total of 40 days in protest against his treatment.