Hong Kong Standard (independent)

The campaign waged on behalf of China's pro-democracy demonstrators at times has not been spectacular. But it has been dedicated and persistent, and, above all, it is extremely important. And some observers believe that the years of effort have finally paid off...Beijing, they feel, was bowing to its own moderates and to international pressure when it refrained from harsher sentences than [the four-year sentence] imposed on student leader Wang Dan.

...Outside interest in Wang Dan's trial was not just embarrassing for Beijing, it was deeply worrying. Wang Dan has become a potent symbol of the dissident movement. His "not guilty" plea was yet another sign that the Communist Party cannot totally bury the aspirations of the people in a sea of rhetoric...It has been suggested that such clemency indicates that the Chinese government is prepared to close the chapter on the crackdown on students. China, however, must continue to be firmly reminded that brutality has its costs.