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
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
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
Liu Tianyi Tianyi
Graphic novelist Tianyi was sentenced to ten and a half years in prison in 2018 for making and selling obscene material. Her self-published novel Gongzhan is about a forbidden… More
Lu Jianhua Wen Yu
After a 90 minute secret trial, Lu was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2006 for leaking state secrets. Lu is a prominent sociologist and research professor, and… More
Lü Gengsong
In 2016, Lü was sentenced to 11 years in prison on national security grounds for publishing critical articles overseas and meeting with other activists. His daughter reports that his… More
Qin Yongmin
Qin Yongmin is a writer, activist, and the co-founder of the Democratic Party of China. On May 6, 2015, he was arrested for inciting subversion of state power. In… More
Wang Jianmin
Wang, a U.S. national, was sentenced to five years in prison in 2014 on business-related charges for publishing two political gossip magazines. He was released in March 2019 upon… More