Prominent Chinese activists sentenced to up to 5 years on charges of ‘inciting subversion’
- #MeToo and labour rights campaigners Sophia Huang Xueqin and Wang Jianbing, had been detained since 2021
Journalist and feminist activist Sophia Huang Xueqin was sentenced to five years in prison by a court in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou on Friday in a case that feminists fear will have a chilling effect. Her friend, labour activist Wang Jianbing, who was charged in the same case, received a 3½ year sentence.
Both Huang and Wang were found guilty of “inciting subversion of state power”, according to a part of the verdict obtained by the Post.
The verdicts were handed down at the Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court after a closed door trial.
The two, who were arrested in September 2021, have served two years and nine months in prison, which will be deducted from their sentences. Huang is expected to be released in September 2026, while Wang will be freed in March next year.
Huang said she would appeal, according to people familiar with the matter.
“Using national security as a reason to suppress civil society activists is a bad signal that denies the value of social justice and rejects the moderate voices of civil society,” said a friend of both Huang and Wang’s.
