Leading Chinese #MeToo activist Huang Xueqin (黃雪琴) yesterday was sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of subverting state power at a court in southern China, according to a group campaigning for her release and a copy of the verdict.
Huang, a 35-year-old independent journalist, plans to appeal, supporters said.
Labor activist Wang Jianbing (王建兵), 40, who stood trial with Huang, was sentenced to three years and six months in prison. It was not immediately clear if he would appeal.
Photo: Reuters
A spokesperson for the group Free Huang Xueqin and Wang Jianbing, said the group believed Chinese authorities were using national security as a pretext to suppress social welfare advocates.
“This is a denial and obliteration of the value of social justice, as well as a denial of moderate voices in civil society. This is a very bad sign,” the person said, asking to remain anonymous due to safety concerns.
The pair have been detained by Chinese authorities since September 2021 and today marks 1,000 days since they were arrested. They denied any wrongdoing during the closed-door trial last year, supporters have said.
The charges of sedition against Huang and Wang were based on the gatherings they often held for young Chinese during which they discussed social issues.
Consular representatives from the US, Denmark, France, Germany, New Zealand and the UK attempted to attend the court proceedings, but were refused entry, two diplomats said, declining to be identified as they were not authorized to speak to the media.
There was a heavy security presence around Guangzhou People’s Intermediate Court yesterday morning, with police questioning bystanders.
“These convictions will prolong their deeply unjust detention and have a further chilling effect on human rights and social advocacy in a country where activists face increasing state crackdowns,” Amnesty International China director Sarah Brooks said in a statement
The charge of “inciting subversion of state power” is frequently used by the Chinese government against dissidents and carries a maximum prison term of five years, but can be longer if the suspect is considered a ringleader or to have committed serious crimes. Sentences take into account time served.
A copy of the verdict shared with Reuters said the nature of Huang’s and Wang’s actions, as well as the “degree of harm done to society,” had determined their sentences.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lin Jian (林劍) said that China was a nation based on the rule of law and anyone who broke the law would be punished.
“China firmly opposes any country or organization challenging China’s judicial sovereignty,” he said.
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the
RSS