BEIJING (AP) - An outspoken Chinese civil rights activist who dedicated himself to chronicling the plight of other dissidents went on trial Tuesday on subversion charges.

Hu Jia is being tried at the Beijing No. 1 People's Intermediate Court, a court official said. Canadian and Australian diplomats who tried to enter the court to observe the trial were turned away. Two local lawyers and friends of Hu's also were denied entry after being told the case was "sensitive."

One of Hu's lawyers, Li Fangping, said on his way into court that his client was healthy and in good spirits. He said he expected Hu would receive a five-year sentence on the charge of inciting subversion of state power.

"We think the explanation for this accusation is very unclear. If you apply it to any normal citizen, it can be a way of controlling freedom of expression," Li said.

Hu's case has gained international attention, with U.S. and European officials repeatedly raising it in meetings with Chinese officials.

Premier Wen Jiabao sidestepped a question about the activist at his annual news conference Tuesday. Wen avoided mentioning Hu by name and denied that China was rounding up political critics ahead of the Beijing Olympic Games in August.

"China is a country ruled by law, and all these issues will be dealt with in accordance with law," Wen told reporters. "As far as the critics' view that China is trying to arrest dissidents before the Olympics, there is no such issue at all."

One lawyer, Jiang Tianyong, said he was turned away from the trial, even though there were free seats and he had applied in advance to attend. Only four people were allowed entry, he said.

"I fear that because there is no media, no independent third party, it will affect a fair trial," he said.

Beijing routinely uses the nebulous charge of subversion to imprison dissidents for years.

Li said earlier this month that an indictment cited comments Hu made during interviews with foreign media and articles he wrote that were posted on Boxun.com, a Chinese-language Web site hosted in the U.S. and banned in China. The North Carolina-based Web site carries reports and essays on a wide range of issues rarely seen in the Chinese state media, from corruption cases to calls for greater democracy.

Hu has been a vocal critic of China's human rights record for years. An impassioned AIDS and environmental activist, Hu was confined to his Beijing apartment in a complex called "Freedom City" for more than 200 days before he was taken away by security agents on Dec. 27.

It was not immediately clear whether Hu's wife, fellow activist Zeng Jinyan, was able to attend the trial. Zeng has lived under virtual house arrest for months and Li said he was unable to reach her by phone.

A friend of Zeng, Zhou Li, who was waiting outside the court with more than a dozen of Hu's acquaintances and supporters said Zeng was at home with her newborn baby girl.