Briefing on the Meeting with Renowned Human Rights Defender Ms. He Fangmei

On March 21, 2026, this outlet learned that yesterday, March 20, 2026, He Fangmei’s husband Li Xin took their three children to Zhengzhou Women’s Prison to visit He Fangmei, who had been transferred there.

Mr. Li Xin described the meeting: “There are 287 days left before He Fangmei’s release. At nearly 11 a.m., we successfully met my wife Fangmei at Zhengzhou Women’s Prison, located at No. 168 Jinlong Road, Zhongmu County. The meeting lasted half an hour. …… He Fangmei’s mental state is also much better than it was in the detention center. She has only been in the prison for a few days, and I have not yet received the prison’s contact letter, so I am temporarily unable to put money into her account. I told her to be frugal recently. The children’s arrival made Fangmei happy. She is very optimistic and still insists on not admitting guilt or expressing remorse……”

Profile of He Fangmei: Born on October 8, 1985, she is from Huixian, Xinxiang City, Henan Province. Her online name is “Thirteenth Sister,” and her occupation is unknown. She is the initiator of the “Vaccine Babies’ Home” rights-defense group, a human rights defender, and a detained Chinese rights defender.

On March 23, 2018, after her younger daughter, who was only 1 year and 10 months old, became paralyzed all over after receiving the DTaP vaccine, her requests for help and complaints to various parties were all rejected. She therefore pursued rights protection and demanded an explanation through successive levels. Later, as similar incidents involving vaccine injuries to babies also occurred in many places, she helped establish the “Vaccine Babies’ Home” rights-defense group to jointly appeal for attention from the authorities and reasonable compensation and medical treatment. However, the authorities repeatedly delayed the matter, forcing her to petition in Beijing, where she was repeatedly arrested and suppressed. On March 5, 2019, during the Chinese Communist Party’s Two Sessions, she went to Beijing’s Wangfujing with parents of children affected by problematic vaccines from various regions to solicit donations for children with disabilities, and was consequently administratively detained for 15 days by the Huixian police in Xinxiang City. On March 21, she was again criminally detained by the Huixian police on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” and held at the Xinxiang City Detention Center in Henan Province. As she continued to refuse to admit guilt during this period, she was formally arrested on April 26, 2019, by the Huixian Procuratorate of Xinxiang City on the same charge. She was later prosecuted and six charges were listed, with a recommended sentence of one year. On November 15 of the same year, her case formally went to trial at the Huixian Court in Henan Province. On January 10, 2020, the Huixian Procuratorate withdrew the prosecution on the grounds of “unclear facts and insufficient evidence,” and she was subsequently released as innocent;

On May 18, 2020, because she repeatedly spoke out, requesting that the state resolve vaccine-related problems through legislation and calling on the United Nations to pay attention to China’s vaccine problems, among other things, she was again forcibly disappeared in Beijing;

After her release, on October 2, 2020, because the local government obstructed her from taking her daughter, who had become disabled as a result of a vaccine, to receive medical treatment, she protested by splashing ink on the sign of the Huixian government and was consequently administratively detained. Later, on October 9, she protested for a second time by splashing paint on the Huixian municipal government;

On October 14, 2020, after learning that she, her husband, their then six-year-old son, and their three-year-old daughter with disabilities had been taken away by the Huixian police, she was subsequently placed under residential surveillance at a designated location at Gongji Hospital in Xinxiang City on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” for a period of 18 months, during which she gave birth to a daughter; on March 23, 2021, she was formally arrested by the Huixian municipal police on suspicion of “bigamy” and “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” while her husband Li Xin was forcibly disappeared, and the whereabouts of their son and daughter with disabilities were also unknown; in April 2022, after her defense lawyer became involved, it was learned that the first-instance trial of her case had already been held, but there was still no result and her relatives had not been notified; on October 23, 2024, her case was again adjudicated at first instance by the Huixian Court in Henan Province, and she was ultimately sentenced to five years and six months in prison for “bigamy and picking quarrels and provoking trouble”; she was dissatisfied and appealed; on January 21, 2025, it was learned that following a ruling by the Xinxiang Intermediate Court in Henan Province at second instance, the original judgment was upheld and her sentence will run until January 1, 2027.

It is reported that her husband Li Xin, formerly an editor at Nandu, was also wrongfully sentenced to five years on unspecified charges for defending rights together with her, and is serving his sentence at a prison in Jiaozuo, Henan; their son was sent by the authorities to be fostered by villagers, while their two daughters were initially held at Gongji Hospital but were transferred elsewhere in early April 2024, and the family has been unable to contact them ever since; after hearing about this, she was extremely concerned about the children’s living conditions, physical and mental health, and education, and hoped to come out soon to care for and accompany them. She had previously been detained at the Xinxiang City Detention Center. In March 2026, she was sent to Zhengzhou Women’s Prison in Zhongmu County to serve her sentence.

This outlet will continue to follow Ms. He Fangmei’s situation in prison.