Members of Twitter Group sentenced for political posts in Chongqing
Five members of a Twitter group known as “推墙大联盟” (lit. a league to tear down the firewall) were convicted and sentenced for subversion in Chongqing in March 2023. Conducted behind closed doors at the Chongqing Number One Intermediate People’s Court, the trial lasted for two years and three months. A judgment that was recently disclosed online by an overseas group provides specifics about this obscure political case.
The procuratorate initially accused Ren Jianping (任建平), Yao Xirui (姚锡锐), Lin Yangpeng (林杨鹏), Gu Haiying (顾海英), and Peng Haiming (彭海明) of inciting subversion, a crime of endangering state security. They allegedly colluded with overseas forces to spread harmful speeches, attack the socialist system, and incite subversion of state power.
According to the judgment, a Canadian citizen named Liu Xiaoyan (aka Lucy 刘小燕) was implicated in the case as a founding member of the online subversion group. It is believed that Liu had left the China before the investigation started and the case against her remains open in Chongqing.
The court stated that Ren, Peng, and Liu founded the Twitter Group and recruited Yao, Lin and over 200 others to join. Ren and Liu drafted the group charter, oversaw the group’s operations, and assigned tasks to other members, including collecting sensitive news from Chinese social media, translating the contents into English, and reposting tens of thousands of messages on Twitter.
The court determined that the activities carried out by Ren et al. constituted the offense of subversion instead of inciting subversion.
Of the five defendants, only two remain in prison. Ren, deemed to be the principal offender, was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment with four years’ deprivation of political rights (DPR). He is due for release in April 2029. Yao was sentenced to six years with three years’ DPR and will be released in April 2025.
The remainders have completed their prison sentences following the prolonged delays of the judgment. Gu and Peng were both sentenced to four years with two years’ DPR and were released at the end of March 2023. Lin was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment with three years’ DPR. He was released in March 2024. Lin has been mistakenly identified as “Yang Linpeng 杨林鹏” in some online reports.
Independent filmmaker sentenced in Shanghai
More than a year after his arrest, filmmaker Chen Pinlin (陈品霖) was convicted of picking quarrels and provoking trouble and sentenced to three and a half years by the Baoshan District People’s Court in Shanghai on January 6, 2025.
Chen uploaded a short film to his YouTube channel to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the “White Paper” movement which took place at the end of 2022. The indictment accused Chen of knowingly spreading false information on the internet to incite disruptions of public order.
Chen’s former defense lawyer Fang Xiangui commented on Twitter following the sentence. He says that Chen had signed a confession with the procuratorate and admitted guilt. Fang claims that the procuratorate then suggested a two-year sentence.
But during the closed trial, the court decided to discard the pre-trial agreement and handed down a harsher sentence. Chen’s sentence is expected to expire at the end of May 2027
Independent journalist released after serving full sentence in Jiangsu
Independent investigative journalist Wang Ganlin (王甘霖) was released on December 12, 2024, after completing his sentence in Jiangsu.
Wang, a journalist from Sichuan, is well-known for his exposé of corrupt officials. He was accused by the Pizhou police in 2020 of taking money in exchange for deleting a post attacking a business in Taierzhuang, Shandong with false information. Wang denied the allegation.
The Pizhou City Procuratorate also accused Wang of disseminating false information about cases involving organized crimes in Shanxi, Guizhou, and Guangdong, and accused him of “tarnishing the image of local governments.”
During the trial in June 2022, Wang claimed he was tortured while in residential surveillance at a designated location and was coerced into admitting wrongdoings. The Pizhou City People’s Court convicted Wang of illegal business operation and sentenced him to four years’ imprisonment.
Two employees from the Sun Dawu case received reductions in Hebei
Zhang Ping (张平) and Lu Zhiying (卢志英), two employees of outspoken billionaire Sun Dawu (孙大午), received sentence reductions in 2024.
Dui Hua found that Zhang was granted a six-month reduction in August 2024 and Lu was granted a five-month reduction in October 2024.
Sun, an army veteran, is known for his vocal comments on social political issues and his public support of constitutional democracy and rights lawyers during the “709” crack down. His case attracted international attention in 2021 when he was sentenced to 18 years in prison for eight crimes, including gathering a crowd to attack state agencies, obstruction of official business, picking quarrels and provoking trouble, sabotaging operations and production, engaging in forced business transactions, illegal mining, illegally occupying farmland, and illegally attracting public deposits. [“Engaging in forced business transactions” is an economic crime of using force or coercing someone or entity to buy goods or services.] One of Sun’s sons and two brothers were given sentences of nine to twelve years’ imprisonment.
Sixteen employees were also convicted. Zhang was sentenced to four and a half years for gathering a crowd to attack state agencies, illegally occupying farmland, picking quarrels and provoking trouble, and illegal mining.
Lu was sentenced to four years and five months for gathering a crowd to attack state agencies and illegally attracting public deposits.
While Zhang and Lu are expected to complete their sentences between November 2024 and early 2025. Dui Hua is unable to confirm whether clemency has been granted to Sun or other co-defendants.
Hebei Falun Gong practitioner facing trial second time in Beijing
Liu Dongmei (刘冬梅), a woman from Baoding, Hebei, is being tried at the Miyun District People’s Court in Beijing for “organizing/using a cult to undermine implementation of the law.” The first hearing commenced in December 2024. The trial has not been concluded at the time of writing.
This is her second time facing the same charge. Liu was convicted in 2017 and sentenced to three years in prison by a court in Baoding, Hebei. She completed her sentence in March 2020.
Elderly Falun Gong practitioners receive clemency in Henan and Jilin
Su Jinling (苏锦玲), an elderly woman in her 70s, was granted medical parole in November 2024. Su is one of ten Falun Gong practitioners from Zhengzhou, Henan who were detained between the end of 2021 and January 2022 and sentenced in July 2023.
Su received a sentence of eight years’ imprisonment. Her sentence will expire in November 2029. Nine others were sentenced to one to eight years. Besides Su, no clemency is known to have been granted to the six who remain imprisoned.
Shi Xuwang (石绪旺), another Falun Gong practitioner in his early 70s, was granted medical parole in Jilin in April 2024. He was serving his nine-year imprisonment in the Gongzhuling Prison. Shi received a five-month sentence reduction in 2023. A notice posted by the prison stated that Shi is seriously ill. His sentence will expire in August 2027.