Administrative lawsuit filed by Jiangsu human rights defender Xu Qin against the Gaoyou municipal government and social security center over the deduction of four years of pension payments during her imprisonment to be heard at 9:30 a.m. on May 21, 2026, at the Jiangdu District Court of Yangzhou City

On May 18, 2026, this outlet learned that the administrative lawsuit filed by Jiangsu human rights defender Xu Qin against the Gaoyou municipal government and social security center over the deduction of four years of pension payments during her imprisonment will be heard at 9:30 a.m. on May 21, 2026, at the Jiangdu District Court of Yangzhou City. This outlet will continue to follow developments in Xu Qin’s efforts to defend her rights.

Xu Qin is a former secretary-general of China Human Rights Watch and a member of the Rose Team; on March 29, 2024, she was sentenced to four years in prison for inciting subversion; on July 11, 2025, she was released after completing her sentence but remained under close surveillance by the authorities; in September 2025, she was informed by social security bureau personnel that her pension payments for the four years of her imprisonment would be deducted month by month.

Xu Qin’s biography: Female, born on January 14, 1962, from Gaoyou County, Gaoyou City, Jiangsu Province; she previously worked as a worker at a supply and marketing cooperative and as a community subdistrict office employee; she was formerly a member of the Chinese Communist Party; Christian. Former secretary-general of the grassroots rights organization “China Human Rights Watch,” member of the “Rose Team,” human rights defender, and political prisoner.

For many years, she has consistently followed the human rights situation in China and worked with renowned human rights activist and democratic dissident Qin Yongmin to establish China Human Rights Watch; after Qin Yongmin was arrested and Qin’s wife, Zhao Suli, was “disappeared,” she repeatedly took to the streets to voice support and follow up on the case;

On January 31, 2018, she was suddenly placed under restrictions on her freedom by the police, and thereafter was constantly followed and monitored;

On February 9, 2018, she was taken away by the police while traveling from Gaoyou, Yangzhou, to Kunshan. She later learned that she had been criminally detained by the Yangzhou police on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”;

On March 15 of the same year, the lawyer retained by her family requested a meeting, but the police refused. They did, however, inform him that on March 11 she had been changed from criminal detention to “residential surveillance at a designated location”;

On March 21, an additional charge was brought against her, and she continued to be detained on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power,” while lawyers were also barred from meeting with her; it was learned that this arrest was related to her persistent attention to human rights issues in recent years, as well as activities including actively organizing a joint petition in support of rights lawyer Yu Wensheng and raising funds for rights defender Xu Lin; on August 31, 2018, it was learned that she had been released on bail pending trial;

On November 5, 2021, Xu Qin was suddenly taken away from her home by the police again; it was learned that her case had previously remained in extended review; before this arrest, Xu Qin had just undergone coronary artery bypass surgery and was also suffering from a number of illnesses, including cerebral infarction, myocardial infarction, and high blood pressure. Her physical condition deteriorated rapidly in prison, and she even became paralyzed and unable to stand. Later, following the lawyer’s resistance and attention from all sectors of society, Xu Qin’s physical condition improved somewhat, and she was able to walk for a short while with the support of others. In August 2022, the detention center arranged for her to undergo an examination at Dongfang Hospital and prescribed some medication.

On November 4, 2022, a pretrial conference in Xu Qin’s case was held at the courtroom of the Yangzhou City Detention Center, but the trial still did not begin for a long time. The postponement of Xu Qin’s case reached twelve times, and the Chinese Communist regime’s reckless manipulation of the law has astonished the world.

Xu Qin’s case was finally heard and sentenced on the morning of March 29, 2024, at the Yangzhou Intermediate People’s Court. The court found Xu Qin guilty of inciting subversion of state power and sentenced her to four years in prison and deprivation of political rights for two years. Her sentence was to run until July 11, 2025. Dissatisfied with the judgment, she appealed in accordance with the law, but the second-instance court upheld the original judgment. Xu Qin had previously been detained at the Yangzhou City Detention Center in Jiangsu Province and was later transferred to Nanjing Women’s Prison.