liu di (traditional: åè»; simplified: åè»; pinyin: liÃº dÃ­; born october 9, 1981), writing under the screen name "stainless steel rat" (ä¸éé¢èé¼ ), named after the assertive harry harrison sf character, became a high-profile symbol for democracy and free speech in china since her detention in november 2002. her screenname is often translated as stainless steel mouse. ==biography== liu di graduated as a psychology major from beijing normal university. liu's case comes during a crackdown on internet contentâfrom politics to pornographyâand as the government struggles to gain control over a new and popular medium. the reasons for liu's detention were satirizing the ccp online and calling for the release of other "cyber-dissidents." her arrest caused a flurry of worldwide media protest. she was freed from beijing's qincheng prison on friday, november 28, 2003. two other "cyber-dissidents", wu yiran, and li yibin, were also freed from a jail for political detainees. ==see also== *list of chinese dissidents *international freedom of expression exchange monitors internet censorship in china   
1981_births Beijing_Normal_University_alumni Charter_08_signatories Chinese_dissidents Living_people Prisoners_and_detainees_of_the_People\'s_Republic_of_China