Writers at Risk Database

Tsering Woeser

An award-winning Tibetan writer, Woeser was placed under house arrest in 2008 and again in 2014 for her activism for Tibetan rights. Her books are currently banned in China… More

Xue Deyun Ma Zhe

A leader of the Guizhou cultural revival movement, which called for increased literary freedom in China, Xue was jailed from 1987-90 and again from 1998-2001 for attempting to overthrow… More

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

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

Xu Lin

Xu, an active democracy activist, was sentenced to three years in prison in 2018 for, according to the court, causing serious public disorder by repeatedly posting “false information” online… More

Writers at Risk Database

Yang Maodong Guo Feixiong

Yang served six years in prison over protests against corruption and censorship in 2013, and was assaulted and denied proper medical care in prison. He was finally released conditionally… More

Cui Haoxin An Ran

Cui, a Hui Muslim, uses poetry and online platforms to protest China’s treatment of Muslim minorities. After enduring harassment throughout 2018, Cui was arrested in January 2020. There is… More

Writers at Risk Database

Bei Dao

Among the most acclaimed poets of his generation, Dao was accused of inciting the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 and exiled from China, causing him to move to seven… More

Writers at Risk Database

Gui Minhai

A Swedish citizen, Gui was one of five Hong Kong booksellers to disappear in 2015 and resurface in Chinese custody. While the others have been released, Gui spent years… More

Writers at Risk Database

Liu Xia

After her husband Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010 for calling for political reforms in China, poet Lu Xia was held incommunicado under extralegal house arrest.… More