Writers at Risk Database

Zhang Jianhong Li Hong

Leading dissident writer Zhang spent two years in a labor camp in the late '90s. He was imprisoned again in September 2006 and was denied medical treatment until his… More

Liu Jingshen

A key figure in the Democracy Wall movement, Liu was arrested as one of the Beijing Fifteen dissidents in 1992 and sentenced to 15 years in prison for counter-revolutionary… More

Writers at Risk Database

Huang Jinqiu Qing Shuijun

Following his rise as a pro-democracy essayist and blogger in the early 2000s, Huang was arrested in 2003 and sentenced to 12 years in prison for writing 'reactionary' articles… More

Writers at Risk Database

Shi Tao

In 2005, Shi was sentenced to 10 years in prison for leaking a Communist Party document to an overseas Chinese website over Yahoo email. Yahoo was criticized by the… More

Yang Shaozheng

Yang Shaozheng

In 2017, Guizhou University fired professor Yang over his “politically sensitive” academic writings. In June 2021, Yang was charged with “inciting subversion of state power” and detained after disappearing… More

Writers at Risk Database

Liu Xiaobo

A pro-democracy activist and writer, Liu was arrested in 2009, charged with “inciting subversion of state power,” and sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2010 for penning seven… More

Yao Wentian Yiu Mantin

In 2013, Yao was sentenced to ten years in prison for smuggling ordinary items, but his friends believe the publisher was set up. As of 2019, he is reported… More

Sun Wenguang

Sun Wenguang

Retired academic Sun was arrested from his home during a phone interview with Voice of America in August 2018. Before the interview was cut off he reportedly said, “I… More

Zhou Yuanzhi

Zhou has published political commentaries and short stories in Hong Kong and for overseas Chinese-language publications. Initially detained in 2017, he was sentenced in June 2019 to four and… More

Xu Zhiqiang Shengguan

Xu was arrested on national security charges after holding a seminar to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement. After his conviction, he was imprisoned for… More