Leading Chinese #MeToo activist Huang Xueqin (黃雪琴) yesterday was sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of subverting state power at a court in southern China, according to a group campaigning for her release and a copy of the verdict.
Huang, a 35-year-old independent journalist, plans to appeal, supporters said.
Labor activist Wang Jianbing (王建兵), 40, who stood trial with Huang, was sentenced to three years and six months in prison. It was not immediately clear if he would appeal.
Photo: Reuters
A spokesperson for the group Free Huang Xueqin and Wang Jianbing, said the group believed Chinese authorities were using national security as a pretext to suppress social welfare advocates.
“This is a denial and obliteration of the value of social justice, as well as a denial of moderate voices in civil society. This is a very bad sign,” the person said, asking to remain anonymous due to safety concerns.
The pair have been detained by Chinese authorities since September 2021 and today marks 1,000 days since they were arrested. They denied any wrongdoing during the closed-door trial last year, supporters have said.
The charges of sedition against Huang and Wang were based on the gatherings they often held for young Chinese during which they discussed social issues.
Consular representatives from the US, Denmark, France, Germany, New Zealand and the UK attempted to attend the court proceedings, but were refused entry, two diplomats said, declining to be identified as they were not authorized to speak to the media.
There was a heavy security presence around Guangzhou People’s Intermediate Court yesterday morning, with police questioning bystanders.
“These convictions will prolong their deeply unjust detention and have a further chilling effect on human rights and social advocacy in a country where activists face increasing state crackdowns,” Amnesty International China director Sarah Brooks said in a statement
The charge of “inciting subversion of state power” is frequently used by the Chinese government against dissidents and carries a maximum prison term of five years, but can be longer if the suspect is considered a ringleader or to have committed serious crimes. Sentences take into account time served.
A copy of the verdict shared with Reuters said the nature of Huang’s and Wang’s actions, as well as the “degree of harm done to society,” had determined their sentences.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lin Jian (林劍) said that China was a nation based on the rule of law and anyone who broke the law would be punished.
“China firmly opposes any country or organization challenging China’s judicial sovereignty,” he said.
CLASH OF WORDS: While China’s foreign minister insisted the US play a constructive role with China, Rubio stressed Washington’s commitment to its allies in the region The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday affirmed and welcomed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio statements expressing the US’ “serious concern over China’s coercive actions against Taiwan” and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, in a telephone call with his Chinese counterpart. The ministry in a news release yesterday also said that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had stated many fallacies about Taiwan in the call. “We solemnly emphasize again that our country and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, and it has been an objective fact for a long time, as well as
‘CHARM OFFENSIVE’: Beijing has been sending senior Chinese officials to Okinawa as part of efforts to influence public opinion against the US, the ‘Telegraph’ reported Beijing is believed to be sowing divisions in Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture to better facilitate an invasion of Taiwan, British newspaper the Telegraph reported on Saturday. Less than 750km from Taiwan, Okinawa hosts nearly 30,000 US troops who would likely “play a pivotal role should Beijing order the invasion of Taiwan,” it wrote. To prevent US intervention in an invasion, China is carrying out a “silent invasion” of Okinawa by stoking the flames of discontent among locals toward the US presence in the prefecture, it said. Beijing is also allegedly funding separatists in the region, including Chosuke Yara, the head of the Ryukyu Independence
UNITED: The premier said Trump’s tariff comments provided a great opportunity for the private and public sectors to come together to maintain the nation’s chip advantage The government is considering ways to assist the nation’s semiconductor industry or hosting collaborative projects with the private sector after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 100 percent tariff on chips exported to the US, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. Trump on Monday told Republican members of the US Congress about plans to impose sweeping tariffs on semiconductors, steel, aluminum, copper and pharmaceuticals “in the very near future.” “It’s time for the United States to return to the system that made us richer and more powerful than ever before,” Trump said at the Republican Issues Conference in Miami, Florida. “They
GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY: Taiwan must capitalize on the shock waves DeepSeek has sent through US markets to show it is a tech partner of Washington, a researcher said China’s reported breakthrough in artificial intelligence (AI) would prompt the US to seek a stronger alliance with Taiwan and Japan to secure its technological superiority, a Taiwanese researcher said yesterday. The launch of low-cost AI model DeepSeek (深度求索) on Monday sent US tech stocks tumbling, with chipmaker Nvidia Corp losing 16 percent of its value and the NASDAQ falling 612.46 points, or 3.07 percent, to close at 19,341.84 points. On the same day, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Sector index dropped 488.7 points, or 9.15 percent, to close at 4,853.24 points. The launch of the Chinese chatbot proves that a competitor can
RSS