Liu has served from 2003 to 2007 as President of the Independent Chinese PEN Center. He was also the president of Minzhu Zhongguo (Democratic China) magazine since the mid-1990s. On 8 December 2008, Liu was detained because of his participation with the Charter 08 manifesto. He was formally arrested on 23 June 2009 on suspicion of "inciting subversion of state power".[6][7] He was tried on the same charges on 23 December 2009,[8] and sentenced to eleven years' imprisonment and two years' deprivation of political rights on 25 December 2009.