Congressional-Executive Commission on China

Senator Jeff Merkley Rep. Jim McGovern

Chair CoChair

Political Prisoner Database

Joshua Wong

Hong Kong police arrested democracy advocate Joshua Wong Chi-fung at least six times in connection with his activism..On January 7, 2021, police arrested Wong for “subversion” under the National Security Law at Shek Pik Prison where he was serving [a previous] sentence. The arrest was related to Wong’s involvement in the non-binding primary held in July 2020 intended to the increase the chance for the pro-democracy camp to secure a majority in the Legislative Council election (which was originally scheduled in September and later postponed for a year reportedly for public health concerns). Wong was among 55 individuals arrested between January 6 and 7, 2021. Read more…
Li Yuhan

On October 9, 2017, public security officials from Liaoning province detained 60-year-old lawyer Li Yuhan, holding her at a PSB detention center. Li suffers from heart disease, hypertension, and hyperthyroidism, but officials denied her medication and demanded her cooperation. Previously, Li made a report against a PSB branch for destroying evidence. She also represented Wang Yu, a lawyer detained in a crackdown on human rights legal professionals that began in mid-2015. Read more...
Khadro Tseten

Authorities in Tsekhog (Zeku) county, Malho (Huangnan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai province, detained three Tibetans for their involvement in making or sharing online a song praising the Dalai Lama, including Khadro Tseten and Tsego, as the lyricist and singer, respectively,.The court sentenced Khadro Tseten to 7 years in prison and Tsego to 3 years. Authorities previously detained Khadro Tseten from 2012 to 2014 for his involvement in 2010 protests in Rebgong over Tibetan-language education.Read more…
Zhang Zhan

On June 19, officials at the Pudong New District People's Procuratorate authorized her arrest on the "picking quarrels" charge reportedly in connection to her use of WeChat, Twitter, YouTube, and other social media platforms to document and report on the COVID-19 epidemic in Wuhan. On December 28, 2020, the Pudong New District People's Court tried Zhang on the disturbance charge and sentenced her the same day to 4 years' imprisonment (RDN, 28 Dec 20). Read more...
Ilham Tohti

On September 23, 2014, Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti was sentenced to life in prison for "separatism." Tohti reported that officials abused him, including by shackling him and depriving him of food and water, since he was detained on January 15. Tohti also lost significant weight partly because he was denied halal food. Prior to his detention, authorities restricted his movement and subjected him to harassment in connection to comments he made on ethnic minority policy in China. Read more...