First sentence reduction for leader of unorthodox Christian group five years into his imprisonment
Wang Yongmin (王永民), leader of the Mainland China Administrative Deacon Station (MCADS 中华大陆行政执事站), likely received an eight-month sentence reduction in May 2025.
Wang founded MCADS as an offshoot of the “Shouters.” The Shouters and many of its variations are among the first religious groups designated as “cult organizations” in China.
In 1996, Wang was sentenced to twenty years for disturbing social order and fraud. He was released three years early on parole in 2012.
Wang, together with Li Yuhong (李玉红) and five others , tried to revive the group following Wang’s release. They purchased printers to produce propaganda materials and attempted to contact overseas religious groups in the hope of gaining official recognition.
In December 2019, the Xiao County People’s Court in Anhui Province convicted Wang of organizing a cult to undermine implementation of the law (Article 300) and sentenced him to ten years with three years of deprivation of political rights. Other defendants received suspended sentences of up to seven years in prison.
The sentence reduction is Wang’s first since being admitted to Anhui Chaohu Prison in June 2020.
Wang, now in his early 70s, is the only remaining MCADS member in prison. His sentence is expected to expire in July 2027 following the reduction.
Dui Hua has covered Wang and MCADS in its publications.
Beijing environmental activist detained in Shandong
Huo Jiangpo (霍江坡), an environmental activist from Beijing, was placed under nine-day administrative detention by the Dongying Public Security Bureau on June 29, 2025.
In May 2025, Huo and colleagues probed into a pharmaceutical company in Dongying after receiving tip-offs from local residents about illegal wastewater discharge . The company had previously been fined multiple times by the authorities for harming the environment in 2016.
The activists took videos of the polluted sites using a drone and posted clips on several social media platforms. The local government publicly refuted the allegations, and the online video clips were purged.
On June 29, Huo and two colleagues were detained by the local police while revisiting the town in an attempt to collect additional evidence. According to reports from official media, the police accused Huo of disrupting social order with falsified information and placed him under administrative detention from June 29 to July 8. Huo’s colleagues have been released.
Two environmental activists in detention in Shaanxi
Known only by his pseudonym “Brother Nut 坚果兄弟,” the performance artist and environmental activist reportedly went missing on June 30 in Kunming, Yunnan while visiting family. On the same evening, his friend and longtime collaborator Zheng Hongbin (郑宏彬) was held incommunicado after being detained by the police in Xi’an.
The work of “Brother Nut” became known in 2015 when he made a brick from air pollutants he collected in Beijing, which he left at a construction site. His art projects focus on environmental issues and censorship. Zheng is an independent art curator who has organized exhibitions to raise public awareness about environmental issues.
The duo gained traction with their investigations aimed at exposing illegal waste discharge and pollution at Xiaohaotuxiang, a natural gas and coal mining town in Yulin, Shaanxi. Billed as a public art project, the duo first started the exposure in 2018 and made annual visits to the town.
On the same day when the two went missing, articles related to the subject were purged from their WeChat public accounts.
At the time of posting, it is reported “Brother Nut” has been taken to Yulin and that both men are placed in administrative detention for twenty days for picking quarrels and provoking trouble by the Yulin Public Security Bureau.
Two Church of Almighty God members received clemency in Chongqing
Ran Mengqun (冉孟群), a member of Church of Almighty God (CAG), received an eight-month sentence reduction in May 2025.
As a district leader of CAG, Ran was in charge of daily operations and distributing propaganda materials. She had been previously placed under administrative detention and in legal education classes for Article 300 in 2017. In August 2019, Ran and two other members were convicted of Article 300 by the Kaizhou District People’s Court and sentenced to seven and a half years in prison.
This appears to be Ran’s first sentence reduction. Ran, now in her early fifties, is expected to be released from Chongqing Women’s Prison in January 2026.
Also in May, another CAG branch leader Xiang Minqiong (向明琼) received a five-month sentence reduction.
Xiang was in charge of bookkeeping and distributing propaganda materials. In August 2019, Xiang was convicted of Article 300 by the Kaizhou District People’s Court and sentenced to seven years and three months in prison.
This also appears to be Xiang’s first sentence reduction. Xiang, now in her early sixties, is expected to be released from Chongqing Women’s Prison in July 2025.