Long-term subscribers may recall a similar post from last year. Given the broader audience that UnderReported China now has and the ongoing relevance of this issue, I felt compelled to revisit these thoughts—with some updates and new cases.
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Honoring China’s Prisoners of Conscience this Mid-Autumn Festival
The Moon Festival is one of my favorite holidays on the Chinese calendar, though I didn’t grow up celebrating it. Still, my daughters are fascinated by the idea of Chang’e floating up to the moon and keeping a pet rabbit there with her.
But as we meet up with Chinese friends to nibble on mooncakes and answer riddles, I can’t help but reflect that among them are those separated from their family and unable to return home to mainland China. This is an increasing reality for many in the Chinese diaspora—including more and more Hong Kongers—who choose to speak out against the Chinese Communist Party’s abuses, practice a faith disfavored by the regime, or uphold their ethnic heritage and identity.
Both outside and within China, many Chinese are forcibly separated from loved ones because their relatives have been unjustly imprisoned. Indeed, the country is arguably home to the largest population of prisoners of conscience in the world. Thus, even on cheerful occasions, it seems important that we not forget them.
This has hit home even harder in recent weeks as I’ve had the opportunity to once again do interviews with refugees and former prisoners. Without getting into the full details of their experiences, what has struck me is their quiet courage, humility, and honesty, including a willingness to acknowledge that they can’t recall something precisely or that they were forced in custody to do something of which they were deeply ashamed, like renouncing their faith or conceding to the regime’s demands.
It is also the seemingly mundane aspects of what they have suffered, even outside custody—the forced divorces, domestic violence, and separation from children—that remain with me after our conversations. More than the forced labor, sleep deprivation, and abuse in detention, those tragic personal aspects are easier to relate to on an intimate level. They showcase what the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has stripped from so many people, simply because of their convictions, “thought crimes,” or activism trying to help others.
So, it is worth recalling that away from the headlines about AI competition, economic crises, and cross-strait tensions, an untold number of innocent, kind, and often very well-educated Chinese citizens are languishing in dens of violence, forced labor, and inhumane mistreatment. These are people who could truly be building a “New China,” one less corrupt, less unjust, and more aligned with the parts of the international community that value human rights, freedom, and the rule of law, if only Beijing could tolerate giving them the opportunity to do so.
Despite the tragedies facing prisoners of conscience from China and their families, there are bright spots: lawyers trying to help detainees despite the risk of being persecuted themselves; daring escapes despite China’s tight border security so survivors can share their stories; or families reunited abroad after years apart. On multiple occasions, I’ve also heard from former prisoners who were the focus of international advocacy efforts that they felt better protected than other prisoners or treated more gently than they had been during previous, less high-profile detentions.
So, in the interests of remembering and honoring the courage and resilience of all prisoners of conscience in China and their families today, here are three cases to highlight:
Zhang Yadi: Young woman arrested in China over activism in Europe
A couple of weeks ago, news emerged that Zhang Yadi, a 22-year-old who had studied in Europe, was detained over the summer in China when visiting family. Ms. Zhang, who grew up a Buddhist, had begun to sympathize with the plight of Tibetans and the suppression of their culture while studying in France. She began writing for the Substack newsletter Chinese Youth Stand For Tibet (CYS4T), which aims to build better communication between Han Chinese and Tibetans, while sharing the “beauty and richness of Tibetan culture.”
Although news of Ms. Zhang’s arrest only gained international prominence last month, she appears to have been detained since July 31. Prominent rights lawyer Jiang Tianyong was himself taken into custody briefly in mid-September when trying to visit and support her family in her hometown of Changsha.
Ms. Zhang was scheduled to start a graduate degree in London this month at the School of Oriental and African Studies (one of my own alma maters). This week students, faculty, and others held a vigil on campus on her behalf, also urging the university to publicly call on the Chinese government to release her and allow her to resume her studies.
She is one of several Chinese activists who have been barred from leaving China to attend graduate school in the UK. Last Mid-Autumn Festival, I highlighted the cases of Huang Xueqin and Wang Jianbing. Ms. Huang had been stopped from going abroad to study and Mr. Wang was sentenced in part for his activism as a student in the UK years before. Both were sentenced to prison, which does not bode well for Ms. Zhang.
Nonetheless, it is good to see her case getting international attention and support. The next few months are going to be critical as the politicized judicial system in China decides her fate. Any international pressure that could influence the cost-benefit analysis in her favor would be welcome. Amnesty International has published an urgent action on Ms. Zhang’s case with a sample letter to China’s Minister of State Security Chen Yixin. For any readers inclined to send one, you can find it here.
Ms. Zhang’s disturbing case highlights again the long arm of the CCP’s censorship and repression, as Chinese citizens taking advantage of studying abroad risk severe consequences at home—or being unable to return at all—if they speak up against the regime’s abuses or even engage in cultural exchanges with persecuted minorities.
Zhang Haitao: Father and husband serving a 19-year-prison sentence
I first came across Zhang Haitao’s case (no relation to Zhang Yadi) in 2016 when running the China Media Bulletin at Freedom House. We included him at the time as a featured prisoner:
Zhang, a Han Chinese resident of Urumqi, was detained on June 26, 2015. On January 15, 2016, a court in Xinjiang sentenced him to 19 years in prison for “inciting subversion of state power” and “providing intelligence to overseas entities.” The sentence was especially harsh considering that the activities cited in the verdict entailed relatively minor acts of free expression.
Specifically, the verdict cited 69 WeChat posts and 209 Twitter messages (including retweets) that were critical of the Chinese Communist Party and its policies, including in Xinjiang. The decision also cited a few interviews Zhang had given to overseas news services like Radio Free Asia, relaying accounts of the heavy security presence on the streets of Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital. All of the examples appear to have been expressions of views or sharing of easily accessible public information. Nevertheless, in December 2016, the full 19-year sentence was upheld on appeal.
The extremely harsh sentence that coincided with the birth of his son always made Mr. Zhang’s case stand out in my mind as especially tragic. He is now about half way through his sentence and his then-newborn son is probably in 4th grade. From publicly available information, it is not clear that he has ever met his father.
In 2017, Mr. Zhang’s wife Li Aijie, herself an incredibly resilient and courageous woman, escaped to the United States with their son and the help of the advocacy group China Aid. Mr. Zhang’s older sister was able to have a video call with him in 2023, noting that:
“After four years and 10 months, I finally met my younger brother Zhang Haitao through video conference. Zhang Haitao was much thinner than when I first saw him in 2018, but he is still in a good state of mind.”
That is the latest publicly available update on this condition. Thankfully, his case continues to garner some international attention. Mr. Zhang was included in a communication to the Chinese government by a United Nations human rights expert earlier this year, alongside other human rights defenders from China serving sentences of over 10 years.
Ms. Liu Pintong: A Release Worth celebrating
On a more positive note, what lovely timing for Liu Pintong and her son, that she escaped China and arrived in July in the UK, where her son is studying. Ms. Liu is from northeastern China and was twice imprisoned for practicing Falun Gong, the meditation and spiritual practice violently suppressed by the Chinese government, or for sharing information about rights abuses facing Falun Gong practitioners.
After completing an eight-year prison sentence in 2020, during which her health deteriorated until she was in critical condition at one point, Ms. Liu was again arrested in 2023. A court in Fushun City sentenced her to another 1.5 years in the very same prison she had narrowly survived. Organizations like the Falun Dafa Information Center and British MPs advocated on her behalf and in August 2024 she was released from custody. In mid-July she managed to leave China to visit her son in the UK, where they were finally reunited.
“I was just happy I made it here. My son and I didn’t even know if I’d be allowed to leave China. If I’d stayed in China, I can’t imagine what else might have happened to me,” she said upon her arrival.
Ms. Liu also relayed that the prison guards appeared to take note of the fact that her son was overseas. “They still committed crimes they could never admit publicly, but I think they treated me a little better because of the paranoia. Maybe the international attention pricked their conscience.”
Ms. Liu expressed hope that she’ll be able to use her newfound freedom to help those still in China. She relayed how two close friends who practiced Falun Gong had been detained over the past year, one when studying spiritual texts in private with other practitioners and the other when simply running an errand.
It is hard to fathom that just over a year ago, the cheerful woman in this photo was being held at the notorious Liaoning Women’s Prison. But her release offers hope and it is truly heartwarming that she’ll be able to celebrate the holiday this year with her son.
What I’m reading
On a lighter note, two recommendations in honor of the holiday (especially for readers with kids):
When the Sea Turned to Silver by Grace Lin. This is the sequel to a book I mentioned in last year’s post by the same author. We read it after my older daughter was assigned the first book for a book club. This second adventure in the series starts off slow but doesn’t disappoint. It too combines sympathetic and well-developed characters with allusions to classical Chinese literature, the author’s own folktale-inspired creations, and a few fun plot twists. I would even say that I enjoyed it even more than Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, though that title is more appropriate for today.
A Big Mooncake for Little Star. My younger daughter saw this at the library and we borrowed it. It’s a lovely tale of a young girl who can’t resist nibbling a mooncake. It was only after I read it to my daughter that we looked at the author and realized it was also by Grace Lin!
For readers celebrating today, I wish you and your family a happy Mid-Autumn Festival and many scrumptious mooncakes!
Thank you Sarah for raising up these cases and honoring prisoners of conscience in China, so often now lost in the main headlines flooding the news!