China has warned the European Union and the United States not to interfere in the case of prominent dissident Liu Xiaobo.
The warning comes after both called for his immediate and unconditional release. The U.S. and EU also urged China to respect the rights of all Chinese citizens to express their desire for internationally recognized freedom.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said such calls are unacceptable and amount to interference in China's judicial process.
Police took Liu, a former university professor, into custody in December 2008 for co-authoring a pro-democracy petition, called Charter 08. The petition called for political reforms in the tightly controlled country.
China has charged him with inciting subversion of state power. If convicted, Liu could face up to 15 years in prison.
His trial could begin as early as next week.
Liu spent 20 months in jail for joining the 1989 student-led Tiananmen Square protests.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.