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This list consists of activists who are known as Chinese dissidents. The label is primarily applied to intellectuals and other high-profile individuals from China who are known for their criticism of the Chinese government or its policies.
Detained and jailed people
Many Chinese political activists have been detained or jailed or exiled for their pro-democracy or rights defending activities. They include the following notable activists.
Name | Occupation | Detained | Allegations | Sentence | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ai Weiwei | artist and activist | 2011 | alleged economic crimes | Fine of 2.4 million for tax evasion | Detained for 80 days from 3 April to 22 June 2011 |
Bao Tong | government official | 1989 | revealing state secrets and counter-revolutionary propagandizing | 7 years | Sentenced in 1992. Prison from 1989–1996. As of 2009, under surveillance. |
Bao Zunxin | historian | 1989 | counterrevolutionary propaganda and incitement | 5 years | Sentenced in 1991. Released in 1992. Later died in 2007. |
Cai Lujun | businessman, writer | 2003 | incitement to subversion | 3 years | Released in 2006, sought political asylum in Taiwan in 2007. |
Cao Shunli | lawyer, human rights activist | 2013 | illegal assembly, picking quarrels and provoking trouble | Died in detention in 2014. | |
Chen Pokong | author, commentator, democracy activist | 1989 1993 |
"carrying out counter-revolutionary propaganda and incitement", illegally crossing state borders | 3 years, 2 years | Sentenced in 1989 and 1993. |
Cheng Jianping | online activist | 2010 | disturbing social order | 1 year | Reeducation through labor for a sarcastic post on Twitter. |
Gao Zhisheng | lawyer | 2006 | disturbing public order | 5 yrs suspended | Illegally detained and tortured in 2007; forcibly removed from family home in Shaanxi in 2009.
'Disappeared' by government in 2009, reappeared in 2010. The Chinese foreign minister claimed a prison sentence was for 'subversion'. |
Guo Quan | professor | 2008 | subversion of state power | 10 years | Sentenced in 2009. Awaiting appeal. |
Hao Jinsong | law professional, activist | 2019 | picking quarrels and provoking trouble, fraud | 9 years and a fine of 350,000 yuan | Sentenced in 2023. |
He Depu | writer | 2002 | "incited subversion" on the Internet | 8 years | Sentenced in 2003. Released in 2011. |
Hu Jia | activist | 2007 | inciting subversion of state power | 3.5 years | Arrested, imprisoned, and sentenced in 2008. Released in 2011. |
Huang Qi | webmaster, anti-human trafficking activist | 2000 | inciting subversion | 5 years | Sentenced in 2003. Accused of violating articles 103, 105, 55 and 56. Released in 2005. |
2008 | illegal possession of state secrets | 3 years | Sentenced in 2009. Arrested after essay regarding the Sichuan earthquake. Released in 2011. | ||
Ilham Tohti | economist | 2014 | inciting subversion | life | Detained in January 2014 after criticizing Beijing's response to 2013 Tiananmen Square attack. |
Jiang Lijun | writer | 2002 | inciting subversion of the state power | 4 years | Sentenced in 2003. Arrested for "Internet writing and publishing dissident articles". Also sentenced to 'deprivation of political rights' for 1 year. |
Jiang Rong | writer | 1989 | Released 1991. | ||
Jiang Yanyong | doctor | 2004 | Detained and released in 2004. Broke story on SARS epidemic. Wrote critical letter regarding Tiananmen. | ||
Jiang Yefei | political cartoonist | 2015 | incitement to subversion | Escaped from China to Thailand in 2004, he was granted political asylum by the Canadian Government, but was arrested by Thailand Immigration authorities on illegal entry. In November 2015 he was deported from Thailand at the request of the Chinese authorities and now awaiting trial in custody. | |
Lei Chen | civil servant, journalist | 1960 | incitement to subversion | 10 years | Member of the Control Yuan and expelled from the Kuomintang in 1954. Released in 1970 by the Kuomintang government and died on 7 March 1979. Posthumously exonerated by the Transitional Justice Commission in 2019. |
Li Hai | student | 1994 | 9 years | Sentenced in 1995. Released in 2004. | |
Li Zhi | civil servant | 2003 | inciting subversion | 8 years | Sentenced in 2003. Yahoo! helped the government against him. Expected release in 2011. |
Liao Yiwu | writer, musician | 1990 | poem "Massacre" about Tiananmen Square | 4 years, permanent blacklist from travel | Under a 2011 'travel ban' for 'national security' reasons. |
Liu Di | student | 2002 | Released in 2003 | ||
Liu Xiaobo | professor of literature | 2008 | inciting subversion of state power | 11 years | Sentenced in 2009. Died on 13 July 2017. Recipient of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. |
Qin Yongmin | human rights activist | 1998 2018 |
inciting subversion of state power | 12 years 13 years |
Sentenced 1998 and July 2018. Co-founder of the Democracy Party of China. |
Qiu Zhanxuan | student activist | 2019 | unknown, likely because he was the leader of the Marxist student association at Peking University | unknown | Qiu was abducted on 29 April 2019 by State security agents on the outskirts of Beijing. He was the leader of the Marxist student association at the elite Peking University, a communist of conscience who defied the Chinese Communist Party. He remains missing. |
Ren Zhiqiang | tycoon, blogger | 2020 | purported corruption | 18 years | Sentenced in 2020. |
Ruan Xiaohuan | blogger, InfoSec specialist | 2021 | inciting subversion of state power | 7 years | Sentenced in 2023. |
Shi Tao | journalist, writer, poet | 2004 | illegally supplying state secrets to overseas organizations | 10 years | Sentenced in 2005. Yahoo! helped the government against him. Released 2013. |
Tan Zuoren | writer | 2008 | 3 years | Sentenced in 2009. | |
2010 | subversion of state power | 5 years | Sentenced in 2010. | ||
Tang Baiqiao | activist | 1989 | spreading counterrevolutionary propaganda; inciting counterrevolutionary activities; defection to the enemy; treason. | 3 years | Released under international pressure in 1991. Fled to Hong Kong, then United States in 1992. |
Wang Bingzhang | doctor | 2002 | spying, terrorism | life | Sentenced in 2003. |
Wang Dan | professor of history | 1989 | Tiananmen activities | 4 years | Sentenced in 1991. Released on parole in 1993. |
1995 | 11 years | Sentenced in 1996. Released on medical parole to United States in 1998 and currently in Taiwan. | |||
Wang Quanzhang | lawyer | 2015 | subversion of state power | 4½ years | Put on trial in December 2018, sentenced in January 2019. |
Wang Xiaoning | engineer | 2002 | incitement to subvert state power | 10 years | Sentenced in 2003. Yahoo! helped the government against him. Expected release in 2012 |
Wang Youcai | 1989 | ||||
1998 | subversion | 11 years | Released and exiled in 2004. Currently in the United States. | ||
Wei Jingsheng | electrician | 1979 | passing military secrets | 15 years | Released and jailed again in 1993 and released for "medical reasons" and deported to the United States in 1997. |
Wu Gan | blogger | 2015 | subversion of state power | 8 years | |
Xu Zhiyong | lawyer, lecturer | 2014 | gathering crowds to disrupt public order | 4 years | For his role of founding New Citizens' Movement and in protests. |
Xu Zhangrun | constitutional lawyer and lecturer | 2020 | using prostitutes | one week | |
Yang Jianli | activist, scholar | 2002 | alleged espionage & illegal entry | 5 years | The Chinese government placed Yang on a 1994 blacklist of 49 pro-democracy activists barred from returning to China. Yang used another person's passport to enter China in 2002. |
Yu Wensheng | lawyer | 2020 | inciting subversion of state power | 4 years | According to Yu's wife Xu Yan, he was also deprived of his citizens' rights for three years. |
Yuan Hongbing | jurist, writer | 1994 | Detained and forced to leave China in 1994. Travelled to and sought political asylum in Australia in 2004. | ||
Yue Xin | student activist | 2018 | unknown, likely in response to protests organized by Yue | unknown | Yue went missing in October 2018, after she and fifty other students were detained by Chinese authorities after participating in Jasic Incident. She remains missing. |
Zeng Jinyan | blogger | 2006 | suspected of harming state security | Under house arrest with husband Hu Jia from August 2006 – March 2007 and under house arrest again from May 2007; released later | |
Zhao Changqing | teacher of history | 1989 | Tiananmen activities | Released after about 1/2 year. | |
1998 | workers rights activity | 3 years | |||
2002 | attempted subversion of state power | 5 years | Sentenced in 2003. | ||
Zhao Lianhai | food safety worker, activist | 2009 | inciting social disorder | 2.5 years | Sentenced in 2010. |
Others
- Michael Anti (journalist), proponent of freedom of the press in China
- Chai Ling
- Chang Ping
- Chaohua Wang
- Chen Guangcheng
- Dong Yaoqiong
- Fang Lizhi
- Feng Congde
- Feng Zhenghu
- Gao Xingjian, recipient of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Gao Yu (journalist)
- Gao Zhisheng
- Gui Minhai, publisher and writer of books on Chinese politics
- Guo Wengui, also known as Miles Guo
- Han Dongfang
- Jiao Guobiao, former professor of Peking University and the author of Denouncing the Central Propaganda Department (of the Communist Party of China)
- Li Hongkuan
- Li Lu
- Li Qiaochu
- Lin Zhao, critic of Mao Zedong, executed during the Cultural Revolution
- Li Zehou, scholar of philosophy and intellectual history
- Liu Binyan
- Alex Liu (Yongchuan Liu), data scientist
- Lu Jinghua, former merchant who became involved in the Beijing Workers' Autonomous Federation in 1989. She later lived in New York. Attempted to return to Beijing in June 1993 but was refused entry and sent back to US.
- Murong Xuecun, writer and critic of censorship
- Shen Tong
- Su Changlan
- Su Xiaokang
- Tang Baiqiao
- Tashi Wangchuk, sentenced to 5 years in prison in May 2018 for "inciting separatism" after speaking to The New York Times about his concerns over the current state of Tibetan culture and language in China.
- Wang Bingzhang
- Wang Meiyu (王美雨), democracy activist who died in police custody under suspicious circumstances in September 2019 after having been arrested for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" in July 2019 when he was protesting for universal suffrage and calling for the resignation of Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang
- Wang Ruowang
- Harry Wu
- Wu'erkaixi
- Xie Wanjun, founding member of the Democracy Party of China
- Xiong Yan (dissident)
- Xu Jiatun
- Xue Fei (host)
- Yan Jiaqi
- Yang Jianli
- Youming Che
- Yu Jie, dissident writer
- Zhang Boli
- Zheng Yi (writer)
- Zhou Fengsuo
See also
- Tank Man
- Human rights in the People's Republic of China
- Politics of the People's Republic of China
- 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre
- Women's roles during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre
- Liu Xiaobo
- Xinjiang internment camps
References
- "Ai Weiwei's whereabouts still unknown". RTHK English News. 10 April 2011. Archived from the original on 11 May 2011. Retrieved April 14, 2011.
- Amnesty International, Chen Pokong (30) and other prisoners at Guangzhou No. 1 Reeducation-Through-Labour Center Amnesty International information note on Chen Pokong Archived 2018-11-22 at the Wayback Machine, 7 December 1994, accessed 2 January 2020
- Chinese woman, Cheng Jianping, sentenced to a year in labor camp over Twitter post Archived 2010-11-21 at the Wayback Machine Aliyah Shahid, 2010 11 18, NY Daily News, via www.nydailynews.com on 2010 11 18
- Human Rights in China, "Torture Account by Missing Rights Defense Lawyer Gao Zhisheng," February 8, 2009
- Jacobs, Andrew (March 28, 2010). "Chinese Activist Surfaces After a Year in Custody". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 3, 2010. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
- Bradsher, Keith (March 16, 2010). "China Fails to Dispel Mystery About Missing Dissident". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 22, 2010. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
- Liang, Xinlu and Mai, Jun (20 July 2023). "Chinese citizens' rights activist Hao Jinsong jailed for 9 years for fraud and 'picking quarrels and provoking trouble'". South China Morning Post. Hong Kong. Archived from the original on 20 July 2023. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-04-03. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - "China accused of 'tricking' dissidents into deportation". Aljazeera. 2015-12-29. Archived from the original on December 3, 2015. Retrieved Feb 17, 2015.
- "Qin Yongmin: Prominent Chinese dissident jailed for 13 years". BBC News. 11 July 2018. Archived from the original on 11 July 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
- "China tycoon critical of Xi gets 18 years in jail". BBC News. 2020-09-22. Retrieved 2020-09-26.
- Gao, Feng (22 March 2023). "Shanghai court jails blogger for seven years over 'subversive' posts". Radio Free Asia. Washington, D.C. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
- "About Shi Tao Archived 2009-01-06 at the Wayback Machine," Incorporating Responsibility 2008
- "PEN International is delighted to announce the release of Chinese poet, journalist and PEN member Shi Tao, 15 months before the end of his 10-year sentence PEN International". www.pen-international.org. Archived from the original on 2013-09-11. Retrieved 2017-05-14.
- Chin, Josh (28 January 2019). "China Civil-Rights Lawyer Sentenced to 4½ Years in Prison for Subversion". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 28 January 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
- Coonan, Clifford (April 20, 2007). "Chinese couple sue Yahoo! in US over torture case". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on July 21, 2010. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
- "CECC Record Number: 2004-04961 Yang Jianli". ppdcecc.gov. Archived from the original on 2018-12-20. Retrieved 2018-12-20.
- Yang, William (17 June 2020). "Yu Wensheng was sentenced to four years in prison and his wife Xu Yan criticized the secret sentence". DW. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
- "China: Activist Couple Accused of Endangering State Security | Human Rights Watch". Archived from the original on 2008-11-27. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
- "Hric | 中国人权". Archived from the original on 2010-07-14. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
- Father of poisoned baby rallies parents in tainted-milk fight - thestar.com Archived 2012-10-22 at the Wayback Machine, Bill Schiller, Asia Bureau, Toronto Star, via www.thestar.com on 2010 11 10
- China food safety activist given 21⁄2 years Archived November 14, 2010, at the Wayback Machine Christopher Bodeen, Associated Press – Wed Nov 10, 2:41 am ET, via news.yahoo.com on 2010 11 10
- "Tibet activist jailed in China over language campaign". BBC News. 22 May 2018. Archived from the original on 26 May 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
- Kuo, Lily (27 September 2019). "Death of Chinese activist in police custody prompts calls for investigation into torture". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 27 September 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
External links
- List of top Chinese dissidents
- Human Rights in China
- IFEX: Monitoring Censorship in China
- Photos of Chinese dissidents