SO I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE FORCED TO VIOLATE THE TIME-ZONE RULE?:

As top Communist leaders gathered in Beijing the veteran Chinese political activist He Depu was obliged to leave town - on an all-expenses-paid holiday to the tropical island of Hainan, complete with police escorts.

It is an unusual method of muzzling dissent, but He is one of dozens of campaigners who rights groups say have been forced to take vacations - sometimes featuring luxurious hotels beside sun-drenched beaches, trips to tourist sites and lavish dinners - courtesy of the authorities.

It happens so often that dissidents have coined a phrase for it: "being travelled".

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