Shandong human rights defender, renowned poet and writer Lu Yang (real name Zhang Guiqi), sentenced to six years, remains under close surveillance after release

(Rights Defense Network Information Center report) On May 16, 2026, this outlet learned that Lu Yang (real name Zhang Guiqi), a Shandong human rights defender, renowned poet and writer who was sentenced to six years, was released from prison and returned home on May 6, 2026. He remains under close surveillance and is unable to travel freely.

During his imprisonment, Lu Yang refused to confess guilt. He worked from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. every day, with only a little over ten minutes for meals in between, had no hot showers all year round, and was limited to spending no more than 100 yuan per month. Insufficient nutrition and sunlight caused his teeth to loosen, with some falling out.

Zhang Guiqi: Born in January 1971, he is from Shen County, Shandong Province. His pen name is Lu Yang and his online name is “Madman of Western Shandong.” He is the former founder of media platforms including the “Yangziwan Poetry Society,” the “China Contemporary Poetry Forum,” the “China Free Culture Forum,” and the “Chinese Poets Lecture Hall—Wenshu Academy”; a former teacher at the Shandong Liaocheng Foreign School; a renowned Shandong poet and writer; a signatory of Charter 08; a member of the Independent Chinese PEN Center; a pro-democracy dissident; and a political prisoner.

He began writing poetry and literature in 1994. He once founded the “Yangziwan Poetry Society” and served as editor-in-chief of the publication Yangziwan Poetry Journal; in 2003, he founded the “China Contemporary Poetry Forum” and served as editor-in-chief of the publication China Contemporary Poetry. After the forum was shut down by the Chinese Communist authorities, he began in 2005 to publish poetry in such renowned domestic poetry publications as Stars and Poetry Periodical. In 2004, he founded the “China Free Culture Forum.” After it gained considerable influence, it was repeatedly suspended by the authorities, then moved to the overseas “Free China” website, and ultimately incorporated into the Boxun website. In 2006, he was forced to resign from his position at the Shandong Liaocheng Foreign School because of his independent writing. Because his wife’s work was also implicated, the couple then left Shandong and were forced to make a living in the south. During this period, he shifted from writing poetry to writing about cultural freedom. After many of his works were published on major domestic websites and resonated in society, they were reprinted by numerous overseas media outlets. In 2008, because he participated in signing Charter 08, the work of both husband and wife was again affected, and both lost their jobs. In September 2009, he became a member of the Independent Chinese PEN Center because he followed and supported the imprisoned political prisoner Liu Xiaobo. In 2010, influenced by the “Chinese Jasmine Revolution,” he again lost his job and was sent back to his hometown in Shandong. In 2017, after holding up a sign in support of Deng Xiangchao, a professor at Shandong Jinan Architecture University who had been dismissed for criticizing Mao Zedong, when Professor Deng was beaten by thugs at the university where he worked, an incident that attracted the attention of Chinese and foreign media, he also became a key target of surveillance by the authorities. In 2019, because he was committed to continuing the dissemination of free culture, he once again created a new media platform, the “Chinese Poets Lecture Hall—Wenshu Academy,” which aroused extreme hostility and suppression from the authorities.

In April 2020, because he had been nominated as a candidate for the board of the Independent Chinese PEN Center and had repeatedly posted politically sensitive statements online, including “Xi Jinping must step down; the Chinese Communist regime must end,” he was taken away by police in Liaocheng, Shandong Province, on May 1, 2020, and his home was searched. On May 13 of the same year, Liaocheng police criminally detained him on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power” and sent him to the Liaocheng Detention Center. On June 18 of the same year, the Liaocheng Procuratorate formally approved his arrest on the same charge, alleging that he was highly suspected of “endangering national security,” and he was transferred to the Chiping County Detention Center in Liaocheng. In September 2020, his case was swiftly tried in secret at a court in Liaocheng, Shandong Province, but there was no further news afterward.

On July 26, 2022, the Liaocheng Intermediate People’s Court in Shandong secretly resentenced him to six years in prison for “inciting subversion of state power.” He appealed, but the second instance upheld the original judgment. Since his arrest, his wife and daughter have suffered repeated collateral pressure, all the assets in their home have been confiscated, his wife’s successive jobs have been disrupted and terminated, and she has repeatedly been threatened and warned by police. On May 5, 2026, he was finally released after completing his sentence. Before that, he had been imprisoned in a Shandong Province prison (No. 91 Gongye South Road, Lixia District, Jinan City, Shandong Province; postal code: 250100).