Lawyers representing the three - Liu Ping, Wei Zhongping and Li Shihua - say that they cannot represent them properly. Over the next 15 days, the defendants will decide if they need new lawyers, according to Zheng Jianwei, the lawyer acting for Ms Liu. The trial is the first to start of several that are lined up, involving campaigners who were charged after they urger greater transparency. In this case, the three had urged Chinese officials to give details of their total assets.

Major setback

Even though China's new president, Xi Jinping, has stated his intentions to crack down on corruption, there seems less appetite in the Communist party for transparency and calls for transparency. 'From the perspective of human rights and rule of law, China has experienced a major setback recently in many aspects,' said Mo Shaoping, a civic rights lawyer, according to The Financial Times. 'In my judgment, this is a major setback.'