Chinese civil rights lawyer Xu Zhiyong releases book amid likely court rebuff

Prominent civil rights lawyer Xu Zhiyong will release his autobiography today, as a Beijing court rules on his appeal against charges of disrupting public order, for which he was convicted in January.

To Be a Citizen, published by Hong-Kong based New Century Press, sheds light on the activist's upbringing and his vision of a free China. "1987 was an important beginning for me," Xu wrote, adding that at 14, he swapped his dream of becoming a Nobel Prize-winning biologist for one of public service. "That winter I realised what our society needs is truth, liberty, and justice. I needed to work hard to make the world a better place."

Xu, 41, coined the term New Citizens Movement - which he was involved in founding - in a series of essays in 2012 that called for fairness and transparency.

Watch: Xu Zhiyong's speaks out from jail

In January, Beijing's No1 Intermediate People's Court convicted Xu after a one-day trial of "assembling a crowd to disrupt order in a public place" after he was accused of organising protests last year calling for public disclosure of government officials' personal assets. He was sentenced to four years in prison. Xu's lawyer, Zhang Qingfang , said yesterday that he did not expect the court to reverse the verdict at today's appeal.

The autobiography is divided into three parts. In part one, Xu writes about his early life and his experiences on the path to social and political consciousness. Part two discusses Xu's vision of a democratic China and the necessary power structure, including a presidential system, a supreme court, a national army and political parties. The last part contains a series of writings, including Xu's last court statement and an open letter to President Xi Jinping .