White Paper Movement documentary filmmaker Chen Pinlin, sentenced to 3 years and 6 months for “Urumqi Middle Road,” spends his 35th birthday in prison

(Rights Defense Network Information Center report) On August 9, 2026, this outlet learned that on August 8, 2026, Chen Pinlin, the White Paper Movement documentary filmmaker behind “Urumqi Middle Road,” who was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months, spent his 35th birthday in prison

On November 27, 2023, on the first anniversary of the White Paper Movement, he uploaded the documentary “Urumqi Middle Road” online and was arrested the following day; on January 6, 2025, he was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months for the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble.

Brief introduction to Chen Pinlin: His online name is Plato, and he is the filmmaker of the White Paper Movement documentary “Urumqi Middle Road.” Born on August 8, 1991, he is from Xiapu County, Fujian Province.

During the three years in which Xi Jinping’s government implemented its frenzied zero-COVID policy, the daily lives and freedoms of the Chinese people suffered serious violations. A major fire in Urumqi, Xinjiang, completely ignited the public’s dissatisfaction with the epidemic prevention policies. On November 26, 2022, when Shanghai residents spontaneously gathered in the streets to mourn their compatriots who had died in the fire, no one expected that this mourning activity would trigger nationwide protests against the epidemic prevention policies. Chen Pinlin filmed a large amount of video at the scene in Shanghai and produced the documentary “Urumqi Middle Road,” which recreated the process and scenes of the “White Paper Movement,” in which people spontaneously participated in mourning the victims of the Urumqi fire, which then evolved into demands to lift the lockdown and the presentation of political appeals. On the first anniversary of the White Paper Movement (late November 2023), Chen Pinlin uploaded the documentary online. Less than a week later, on November 28, 2023, he was arrested, while his Twitter and YouTube channels were shut down. It is reported that a woman was also arrested with him. The woman later obtained bail, but Chen Pinlin was placed in criminal detention. He was subsequently formally arrested on January 5, 2024, by the Baoshan Branch of the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” and was transferred to the procuratorate for review and prosecution on February 18.

The case against Chen Pinlin was brought for public prosecution by the Baoshan District Procuratorate of Shanghai before the Baoshan District Court of Shanghai on April 3, 2024. According to the indictment, Chen Pinlin used a mobile phone to film and save video footage of the “11.26” incident at Urumqi Middle Road in Shanghai on the evening of November 26, 2022. Beginning in September 2023, he started producing the complete retrospective documentary “Urumqi Middle Road” on the first anniversary of the White Paper Movement. It was completed on November 27 and promoted through multiple overseas platforms, with the post on Twitter receiving 210,000 views. He was accused of “knowingly disseminating fabricated false information on information networks, causing serious disorder to public order; reposting and quoting remarks insulting national leaders, damaging the national image and seriously endangering national interests.” The first trial was held at the Baoshan District Court of Shanghai on January 6, 2025, after which he was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months. His sentence runs until: May 27, 2027. Chen Pinlin is currently detained at the Baoshan District Detention Center in Shanghai.