It is time to step up demands for the Chinese government to release human rights defenders detained after attending a social gathering five years ago, Amnesty International said today.
In December 2019, a number of human rights activists met in the southeastern city of Xiamen for a dinner and discussion of social issues. From the 26th of that month, and over the weeks that followed, Chinese authorities forcibly disappeared human rights lawyer Ding Jiaxi and legal scholar Xu Zhiyong until they re-surfaced in government detention.
Amnesty International considers both men prisoners of conscience and has consistently advocated for their immediate and unconditional release.
“The Xiamen crackdown epitomizes the Chinese authorities’ all-out assault on civil society and the cruelty with which they treat peaceful rights advocates,” said Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International’s China Director.
At least five other activists were also targeted, and detained, for their affiliation with the gathering. In the months that followed, all seven activists were reportedly held in “residential surveillance at a designated location” (RSDL), a form of secret incommunicado detention that places detainees at increased risk of torture and other forms of ill-treatment.
“Over the past five years, Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi – along with several of their companions – have endured arbitrary detention, torture and unfair trials, merely because they attended a private gathering and discussed the civil society situation and current affairs in China.”
Following closed-door trials, on 10 April 2023 Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi were sentenced to 14 and 12 years in prison respectively for “subverting state power”. In October 2024, Xu Zhiyong began a hunger strike to protest his treatment in prison, which included being harassed by fellow cellmates, apparently at the behest of prison officials.
“The continued imprisonment of Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi is an outrage, and the international community must ramp up pressure on the Chinese government to address this injustice and secure their release,” Sarah Brooks said.
The Chinese authorities must immediately release Ding and Xu and stop punishing all those who participated in the Xiamen gathering.
Both Ding and Xu have been the subject of recommendations to Chinese authorities by multiple governments and by UN officials, including High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk. Yet concrete actions to demand access to these individuals or to increase the consequences to Chinese authorities for their crackdown on human rights defenders have not materialized.
“The harsh sentences meted out to Xu and Ding are meant to send a message: that to fight to defend one’s rights is unacceptable to the Chinese government. Yet they persisted, and now their family members carry on advocating for their release with that same conviction.”
Ding Jiaxi’s wife, Sophie Luo, told Amnesty International ahead of the fifth anniversary of the Xiamen gathering: “I know that attending a private gathering does not violate any laws, and these citizens should not be imprisoned for even a day. Therefore, I will fight tirelessly for the dismissal of this case.”
A support group active online coordinated by activists in and outside of China is collecting messages and prayers to share with Xu, despite censorship and the risk of government retaliation.
“The Chinese authorities must immediately release Ding and Xu and stop punishing all those who participated in the Xiamen gathering. The grim picture painted by their continued imprisonment should galvanize international condemnation for China’s crackdown on civil society,” Sarah Brooks said.
Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi were prominent members of the New Citizens’ Movement, a loose network of activists founded by Xu in 2012 to promote government transparency and expose corruption. Both had been jailed previously due to their advocacy; Ding served three and a half years and was released in October 2016, while Xu – whose sentence was slightly longer – was released in 2017.
Xu and Ding appealed their 2023 convictions, but in November 2023, the Shandong Provincial High Court upheld the verdict and sentence against them. Both have now requested a second appeal.
In jail, Ding and Xu have been deprived of fundamental rights, including access to reading and writing materials; have severe restrictions on their right to communicate with family and friends; and have reported challenges seeking medical care. Possibly in response to his hunger strike, the Chinese authorities allowed Xu to meet with his lawyer on 26 November 2024. It appears that Xu has since stopped his hunger strike.
Human rights defenders in China continue to face intimidation, harassment, arbitrary detention, as well as torture and other ill-treatment for defending human rights and exercising their freedoms of expression and association. Such retaliation often also extends to their family members and colleagues.
As in many cases of Chinese activists, friends and family of Xu and Ding have faced threats and harassment for speaking out. For years, Xu was not only prevented from seeing his family but lacked legal counsel of his choosing; three lawyers appointed by his family withdrew from representing Xu, reportedly due to threats and intimidation from Chinese authorities.
Other human rights activists targeted in connection with the Xiamen gathering include:
- Chang Weiping was sentenced to three and a half years in prison; he has served his sentence and was released in July 2024 but remains subject to a travel ban
- Li Qiaochu received a sentence of three years and eight months; she has served her sentence and was released in August 2024 but remains subject to a travel ban plus two years of deprivation of political rights
- Zhang Zhongshun was sentenced to four and a half years in prison in November 2024
- Dai Zhenya and Li Yingjun were released on bail after spending time in RSDL, and they are also subject to a travel ban.
Amnesty International considers a prisoner of conscience to be any person imprisoned solely because of their political, religious or other conscientiously held beliefs, their ethnic origin, sex, colour, language, national or social origin, socio-economic status, birth, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or other status, and who has not used violence or advocated violence or hatred in the circumstances leading to their detention.
