The US State Department has criticised what it described as the 'vague and apparently politically motivated' charges that have seen a number of activists and lawyers sentenced to prison terms in China.

Earlier today, Christian activist Gou Hongguo (55) was sentenced to a three-year suspended jail term after being found guilty of subversion.

The South China Morning Post reports that prosecutors accused Mr Hongguo of organising an event in Beijing "focused on using protests and labour disputes to challenge the Communist Party’s rule".

It was also claimed he travelled to Taipei to attend a forum with other pro-democracy activists.

Mr Hongguo's trial was the fourth high-profile case before Tianjin No 2 Intermediate People’s Court over the last week.

Democracy activist and church leader Hu Shigen was sentenced to seven-and-a half-years in prison for “subverting state power".

Another activist, Zhai Yanmin, was given a three-year suspended sentence.

Zhou Shifeng, the founder of a high-profile law firm, was sentenced to seven years in jail.

The sentences follow a major crackdown on human rights activists by Chinese authorities. 

It has become known as the '709 crackdown' after an initial batch of arrests on July 9th, 2015.

Amnesty International claims 248 human rights lawyers and activists have been targeted by the Chinese government since the crackdown began.

Speaking about this week's cases, US State Department deputy spokesperson Mark Toner said: "We’re concerned that several have been sentenced to prison terms of up to seven years based on what we consider vague and apparently politically motivated charges, such as 'subversion of state power'.

"It’s troubling that Chinese authorities denied these defendants access to their chosen counsel and family members as well, and we urge China to release all the lawyers and activists who were detained on July 9th, 2015, and remove restrictions on their freedom of movement and professional activities," he added.

The trials and sentences have also been criticised by human rights organisations, including Amnesty and Human Rights Watch.

Roseann Rife, East Asia research director at Amnesty, said: “This wave of trials against lawyers and activists are a political charade. Their fate was sealed before they stepped into the courtroom and there was no chance that they would ever receive a fair trial."