The founder of a grassroots movement to boost accountability for China’s officials has gone trial on charges of disrupting public order but stayed silent during the closed-door proceedings in protest, his lawyer said.

As show trials go, the drama featuring Bo Xilai, the once-swaggering, media-savvy former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) chief of Chongqing, veered anomalously into improvisation.

One of China’s most well-known civil rights advocates has been formally arrested on charges of disrupting public order, as Beijing cracks down on grassroots efforts to build a civil society that may challenge its rule.

Chinese artist and government critic Ai Weiwei is being pursued for nearly $2m (€1.4m) in unpaid taxes and fines.

Lawyers for more than 200 families who claim their children fell ill or died after drinking tainted infant formula said today that they were turning to China’s highest court to sue the dairy firms responsible in a bid to receive higher compensation and lifelong treatment.