Online Activism
Dui Hua’s research into online judgments revealed that Jin Andi (金安迪) completed his eight-year sentence in July 2018 following his first sentence reduction of six months that was granted by a Shaanxi court in May 2018. The sentence reduction was granted a few days after he was deemed ineligible for parole by the Beijing High People’s Court. Jin was accused of publishing articles on overseas websites such as Boxun and New Century News with Lü Jiaping (吕加平) from 2000-2010. The articles were critical of Jiang Zemin, calling him a traitor for ceding a vast territory in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang in the early 2000s. Jin completed his sentence in Weinan Prison. His first sentence reduction application was rejected last year as he refused to show remorse. Since his incarceration in 2012, Dui Hua has included Jin on nine prisoner lists to the Chinese government.
People’s Election Party and China New Democracy Party Members Convicted of Subversion
In October, Dui Hua received a response from an official source on twelve prisoners in Guangdong province. The response revealed that Zhang Junwei (张珺玮) is due to complete his five-year sentence for subversion on August 26, 2021. Zhang is one of the individuals who was sentenced for joining the “People’s Election Party” in Guangdong with the alleged intention of overthrowing the party in a violent revolution. Other individuals known to be sentenced in the same case include Xiang Fengxuan (项逢选), Ma Ji (马骥), and Yang Wanben (杨万本).
In November, Guo Quan (郭泉) was released from Pukou Prison in Jiangsu province. Guo was convicted of subversion in 2009 for founding the China New Democracy Party which called for the end of one-party leadership under the Chinese Communist Party. The former Nanjing Normal University scholar served his full 10-year sentence without any sentence reductions. Guo refused to “demonstrate remorse,” a prerequisite for prisoners seeking clemency. In an interview given to Radio Free Asia, Guo expressed that he was “fortunate” not to have died in prison as had been the fate of many of his activist friends and that he is still in fairly good health. Although his wife and son emigrated to the United States in 2012, Guo stated that he has no plans to leave China.
June Fourth Student Leader Arrested
Unofficial news sources reported that former June Fourth student leader Zhou Yongjun (周勇军) was re-arrested in September 2018, this time for “organizing/using a cult to undermine implementation of the law”. Zhou was found to have Falun Gong materials in his possession and was detained on August 20 in Fangchenggang, Guangxi. Prior to his arrest, Zhou completed his nine-year sentence for fraud in December 2015 following at least two sentence reductions granted to him.
Religious Prisoners
In December 2018, Dui Hua received a response from Chinese interlocutors on seven prisoners in Shanghai. The response confirmed the whereabouts of two Falun Gong practitioners convicted of “organizing/using a cult to undermine implementation of the law”. Wu Xiaocun (吴啸村), who is currently serving in Tilanqiao Prison, will complete his four-year sentence on May 12, 2021. Female Falun Gong practitioner Zhong Yijun (钟怡君) is due for release from Nanhui Prison on January 2, 2021.
Italy-based advocacy group Bitter Winter reported that Almighty God leaders Bao Shuguang (包曙光), Jiang Xingmei (蒋兴梅), Bai Lanxiang (白兰香), Chen Hong (陈红) and Gu Liya (顾丽娅) were sentenced to 11-13 years in Shandong in October. The judgment also indicated that an unnamed member was sentenced to five years. Per Article 300 of the Criminal Law, leading members of a cult group face imprisonment sentences of at least seven years if the circumstances of a case are deemed particularly serious. The five leaders in this case received the lengthiest sentences known to have been given to Almighty God members convicted of Article 300. Dui Hua’s Political Prisoner Database indicated that sentences received by Almighty God members averaged 3.5 years.
Counterrevolution
Dui Hua received a response indicating that Jiang Cunde (蒋存德) remains incarcerated for counterrevolution, a crime that was removed from the Criminal Law over 20 years ago. Jiang has not received any form of clemency since his life sentence was commuted to 20 years’ imprisonment in 2004.
Han Judge Sentenced to Splittism
Huang Yunmin (黄云敏), a retired Han Chinese judge from Xinjiang, is serving his ten-year sentence for splittism – a charge that is more commonly applied to Uyghurs and Tibetans advocating for independence. Huang was initially indicted for terrorism after downloading a large number of videos about the Urumqi Riots in July 2009. One of them was sent to a friend via WeChat. Critics believe that the conviction was a form of retaliation against Huang for his criticisms of government policies in Xinjiang and efforts to help veterans, workers, and farmers pursue their legal complaints. Huang’s brother Huang Xiaomin (黄晓敏) is currently detained for “picking quarrels and provoking troubles” in Sichuan for supporting Zi Su (子肃). Zi is a former professor who was sentenced to subversion for penning an open letter in which he criticized Xi Jinping.
Lee Ming-che’s Mysterious Co-Defendant
In September 2018, a government response provided to Dui Hua confirmed that Peng Yuhua (彭宇华) is serving his seven years’ imprisonment sentence for subversion in Hunan’s Chishan Prison. The response stated that Peng is in good condition and that his behavior is very good. Peng has not applied for a sentence reduction; he was detained 18 months ago and may not be eligible for a reduction yet. Peng was a co-defendant with Lee Ming-che (李明哲); both were sentenced in the same trial by the Yueyang Intermediate People’s Court on November 28, 2017. The court claimed that Peng was the ringleader and Lee was an active participant in setting up a number of online groups to attack the Chinese socialist system and advocate for a western political model. The indictment indicated that the duo intended to recruit a million members in 2017 to overthrow the Chinese government. Despite having received a two-year lengthier sentence for the same charge, Peng did not receive the same extent of media coverage as Lee. Many democracy activists in China have questioned Peng’s identity as they had not heard of his name prior to the hearing. Hsiao Yi-ming, Executive Secretary of the Taipei-based Judicial Reform Foundation, speculated that Peng was being used by authorities to strengthen the allegations against Lee. Hsiao stated that none of Lee’s friends in China were aware of any connection between Lee and Peng.