Chinese #MeToo activist Sophia Huang Xueqin freed from detention, lawyers and sources say
- Author of landmark workplace harassment survey was arrested nearly three months ago for ‘picking quarrels and provoking trouble’
- She is ‘healthy and still in good spirits’ while ‘under heavy surveillance’, a source tells the Post
Chinese women’s rights activist Sophia Huang Xueqin has been released after nearly three months in detention, according to her lawyers and sources familiar with her situation.
Huang, 32, was released on Friday, about two weeks before the Lunar New Year – traditionally an occasion for family unions.
“She is healthy and still in good spirits. Her activities are restricted now and she is under heavy surveillance,” said a source close to Huang who wished to remain anonymous. “But police are keeping her passport, computer and mobile phone.”
In a message sent to friends after her release, Huang wrote that it would not be convenient for her to meet with them now.
“One second of darkness does not make people blind,” she wrote.
Huang became a leading figure in the Chinese #MeToo movement in recent years. In 2017, the former state media journalist conducted a pioneering nationwide survey of workplace harassment in the news industry and was a vocal advocate for victims.
