Liu Xiaobo may have written the opening paragraph of Charter 08 which read:
the Chinese people, who have endured human rights disasters and uncountable struggles across these same years, now include many who see clearly that freedom, equality, and human rights are universal values of humankind and that democracy and constitutional government are the fundamental framework for protecting these values.
The old, gray, backward men who run China think thoughts like that are criminal and on Wednesday, Liu will go on trial for thinking such thoughts.