Trinley Tsekar

Tsekar, who had written many songs on Tibetan themes, was arrested in November 2013 after attending a protest against mining in a sacred site. His charges were politically motivated… More

Writers at Risk Database

Ilham Tohti

Tohti, an influential Uyghur writer and economist, co-founded the website Uyghurbiz. In September 2014, following repeated instances of harassment and detention, he was found guilty of separatism and sentenced… 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

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

Wang Yi

In January 2020, preacher and poet Wang was sentenced to nine years in prison for inciting subversion of state power after being held incommunicado with his wife since March… More

Xu Zhangrun

While under house arrest for penning an essay in February 2020 regarding China’s repressive response to COVID-19, Xu was detained on July 6 on spurious charges but released six… More

Writers at Risk Database

Tashi Wangchuk

Tashi has publicly advocated for Tibetan language rights, drawing persecution from the state. In 2016, he was secretly detained and held incommunicado for two months. Sentenced to five years… More

Liu Xianbin

For writing articles calling for political reform, Liu was searched and arrested in June 2010 and sentenced to ten years in prison where he was reportedly forced to labor… 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