Chinese dissident artist Gao Zhen (高兟), famous for making provocative satirical sculptures of former Chinese leader Mao Zedong (毛澤東), was tried on Monday over accusations of “defaming national heroes and martyrs,” his wife and a rights group said.
Gao, 69, who was detained in 2024 during a visit from the US, faces a maximum three-year prison sentence, said his wife, Zhao Yaliang (趙雅良), and Shane Yi, a researcher at the Chinese Human Rights Defenders group which operates outside the nation.
The closed-door, one-day trial took place at Sanhe City People’s Court in Hebei Province neighboring the capital, Beijing, and ended without a verdict, Zhao and Yi said, citing information from his lawyers.
Photo: Reuters
Zhao said that she was barred from entering the courtroom. Verdicts are often announced months later in such trials.
The Sanhe Public Security Bureau did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his case.
The New York-based artist was detained in August 2024 on a family visit to China even though since moving to the US in 2022 he had made multiple trips to China without issues, Yi said.
“This really shows the Chinese government’s logic, when they want to target someone, they can use anything in their power to do so,” she said. “Gao Zhen is an artist. He has a right to artistic freedom, period.”
With his brother Gao Qiang (高強), Gao Zhen produced several provocative sculptures of Mao that critiqued the 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution, a period of social turmoil and widespread political persecution in China that led to millions of deaths.
EU diplomats tried to attend the trial, but were blocked from entering, its China mission said in a social media post.
Their most famous works include Miss Mao, featuring Mao with unsettling features such as Pinocchio noses and breasts, and Mao’s Guilt, a bronze statue of the leader kneeling remorsefully.
Gao Zhen’s wife said that she and their seven-year-old son, an American citizen, are under exit bans and cannot leave China.
“This is a huge blow to me,” Zhao said. “My son hasn’t seen his father since the year before last, and we have been barred from sending letters to him since last May. It’s had a significant impact on my son’s emotions and health.”
Gao Zhen is suffering from malnutrition and has lumbar spine disease, as well as chronic knee and eye conditions that need treatment, Yi said.
Gao Zhen was charged for works between 2005 and 2009, Yi said, while China’s Law on the Protection of Heroes and Martyrs was only established in 2018 and strengthened in 2021.
The law has previously been used to prosecute individuals accused of insulting members of the military who died in the line of duty, as well as historical figures.
A stand-up comedian was censored and his comedy firm fined US$2 million in 2021 after he made a joke that referenced a People’s Liberation Army slogan.
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