Renowned human rights defender Xu Qin continues to seek redress over pension; recently sues Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and Beijing No. 2 Intermediate Court

(Rights Defense Network Information Center report) On July 16, 2026, this outlet learned that renowned human rights defender Xu Qin has continued seeking redress after the Gaoyou Social Security Center reclaimed four years of pension payments from her for the period she was imprisoned, and recently filed a leapfrog administrative lawsuit with the Beijing Higher People’s Court; she accused two “Government Information Disclosure Application Notification Letters” issued by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of being unlawful; she accused the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate Court of neither docketing and accepting the lawsuit materials after receiving them nor issuing a written ruling refusing to docket the case.

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 continued to be closely monitored by the authorities; in September 2025, she was informed by social security bureau personnel that her pension for the four years she was imprisoned would be deducted month by month.

Xu Qin’s biography: Female, born on January 14, 1962, from Gaoyou County, Gaoyou City, Jiangsu Province; she first worked as a supply and marketing cooperative worker and a community subdistrict office employee; she was formerly a member of the Chinese Communist Party and is a Christian. She is a former secretary-general of the civil rights organization “China Human Rights Watch,” a member of the “Rose Team,” a human rights defender, and a 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 took to the streets several times to voice support and followed up on the case;

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

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

On March 15 of the same year, a lawyer appointed by her family requested to meet with her but was refused by the police, who nevertheless informed him that on March 11 she had been transferred 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 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 defense lawyer Yu Wensheng and raising funds for rights-defending citizen 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 police again; it was learned that her case had previously remained in a state of repeated postponement; before this arrest, Xu Qin had just undergone heart bypass surgery and also suffered from multiple illnesses, including cerebral infarction, myocardial infarction, and high blood pressure. Her physical condition deteriorated sharply in prison, and she even became paralyzed and unable to stand. Later, following resistance by her lawyers and attention from all sectors of society, Xu Qin’s health improved somewhat, and she was able to walk for a short time 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 Yangzhou Detention Center courtroom, but the trial was still not held for a long time. The trial of Xu Qin’s case was postponed as many as twelve times, and the Chinese Communist regime’s blatant manipulation of the law was astonishing to the world.

Xu Qin’s case finally went to trial and was pronounced at the Yangzhou Intermediate People’s Court on the morning of March 29, 2024. The court found Xu Qin guilty of inciting subversion of state power and sentenced her to four years in prison, with 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 Detention Center in Jiangsu Province and was later transferred to Nanjing Women’s Prison.