Lawmakers and advocates have rebuked the sentencing of the 11 Chinese citizens imprisoned by Chinese authorities after they supplied materials to The Epoch Times shedding light on the toll of the pandemic in China. The 11, who are all adherents of the persecuted spiritual group Falun Gong, took photos to document life in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in China’s capital Beijing and shared them with the outlet. Eight of them are millennials. They have been detained since July 2020. A Beijing court on Jan. 14 handed down prison terms varying from two to eight years on top of hefty fines. Their sentencing, which took place weeks before the Beijing Olympics opening on Feb. 4, underscores what little freedom Chinese citizens and critics have in making their voices heard, U.S. lawmakers and China watchers have said. “This communist dictatorship has an alarming track record for abusive intolerance of …