Release Date Approaches for Imprisoned China Democracy Party Member Tong Shidong

March 1, 2006

Imprisoned China Democracy Party (CDP) member Tong Shidong's sentence will expire on March 9, 2006, according to the Dui Hua Foundation, a U.S. NGO that advocates for prisoners of conscience in China. The Changsha Intermediate People's Court's initial sentence provides that Tong will be deprived of political rights for three years after release.

Imprisoned China Democracy Party (CDP) member Tong Shidong's sentence will expire on March 9, 2006, according to the Dui Hua Foundation, a U.S. NGO that advocates for prisoners of conscience in China. The Changsha Intermediate People's Court's initial sentence provides that Tong will be deprived of political rights for three years after release.

On June 10, 1999, public security authorities in Changsha, Hunan province, detained Tong Shidong for “subversion of state power,” according to Dui Hua, Human Rights in China, Human Rights Watch, and The Laogai Research Foundation. A professor of physics at Hunan University, Tong founded the Hunan University Preparatory Committee of the China Democratic Party in late 1998, at the same time that Chinese authorities began a crackdown on the CDP. Authorities formally arrested Tong on July 17, 1999. The Changsha procuratorate accused Tong of organizing the CDP's Hunan Preparatory Committee and disseminating materials related to the organization. The Changsha Intermediate People's Court sentenced Tong on December 22, 1999, to 10 years imprisonment for "subversion of state power," a crime under Article 105 of China's Criminal Law. Chinese officials reduced Tong's sentence by 18 months in August 2002 and by an additional 21 months in December 2004.

Several leading Chinese activists founded the CDP in 1998 to promote multi-party politics, direct elections, and checks on government power. The CDP's founding declaration calls for an orderly and peaceful transformation of Chinese politics. Chinese authorities have used subversion charges to impose lengthy prison sentences on other activists associated with the CDP, including Xu Wenli and Xu Wanping.