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Ms. Li Yueying, an 86-Year-Old Falun Gong Practitioner from Chenxi County, Huaihua City, Hunan Province, Forcibly Imprisoned by Yuanling Court
The Rights Defense Network Information Center reported on August 16, 2026, that Yuanling County Court had Li Yueying, an 86-year-old Falun Gong practitioner from Chenxi County, Hunan Province, forcibly sent to Changsha Women’s Prison in July 2026. Li was detained in 2020, prosecuted in 2022 and sentenced to six months in prison in 2023. She had previously been detained multiple times and subjected twice to reeducation through labor.Autumn Rain Covenant Church: Dai Zhichao’s Wife Lu Lingzhi Speaks Out for Her Husband; Public Account Permanently Banned
On August 16, 2026, this outlet reported that Lu Lingzhi, wife of Dai Zhichao of the Autumn Rain Covenant Church, said police visited her home and demanded that she delete a post supporting her husband. Lu refused, saying the post was factual. She said the police arrived with body cameras while she was in postpartum confinement, and her public account was subsequently permanently banned.The Relatives in China of Overseas Chinese Independent Musician Chen Ende Face Pressure and Threats from CCP Authorities
On August 14, 2026, overseas Chinese independent musician Chen Ende said his relatives in China reported being visited by authorities investigating him, threatened with being taken back, and subjected to phone monitoring. He said relatives deleted him from WeChat twice after sending a hurried message, suggesting pressure had escalated. Chen, who publicly criticizes the Chinese Communist Party and participates in overseas political activities, said he would continue advocating freedom, democracy and human rights.Case Details and Biography of Ms. Wang Suqin, a 62-Year-Old Falun Gong Practitioner from Hongshan District, Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, Sentenced to 1 Year and 6 Months
The Rights Defense Network Information Center reported that Wang Suqin, a 62-year-old Falun Gong practitioner from Hongshan District, Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, was arrested on January 1, 2026, while caring for her bedridden mother. She had previously been arrested on November 13, 2025, after distributing Falun Gong calendars. The Hongshan District Court sentenced her to 1½ years in prison, with the sentence ending June 30, 2027.Case Details and Biography of Liang Jianguo, a Falun Gong Practitioner from Yiyang, Hunan, Sentenced to 3 Years
Liang Jianguo, a Falun Gong practitioner from Datonghu District, Yiyang City, Hunan Province, was born in 1964 and began practicing in 1997. He had previously faced multiple arrests and detention, two and a half years of reeducation through labor, and two prison sentences of four years and four and a half years. Arrested on November 6, 2025, he was sentenced to three years and sent to prison on August 5, 2026.Case Details and Biography of Li Qingjun, a Falun Gong Practitioner from Shaoyang, Hunan, Sentenced to 3 Years and 3 Months
On August 15, 2026, the Rights Defense Network Information Center reported details about Li Qingjun, a Falun Gong practitioner from Shaoyang, Hunan. Li began practicing Falun Dafa in 1996 and was arrested multiple times, detained in various facilities, and subjected to physical torture and humiliation, according to the report. Police arrested him in Zhuzhou on February 22, 2025. In July 2026, the Lusong District Court sentenced him to three years and three months, ending May 21, 2028.China’s Local Finances in Difficulty; Henan Police’s Extortionate Conduct Is Particularly Shameless
Ren Peiyu of Shierlipu Village, Henan Province, reported that Yulong Town Police Station Director Zhang Yongchuang extorted 2,000 yuan from him. Ren said that after reporting the alleged extortion through discipline-inspection hotlines on July 29, 2026, Zhang sent nine officers to Hebei, where they allegedly beat and abducted him. Ren also reported being detained and forced to transfer money at the station on December 8, 2024.Human rights defender Ms. Xu Yan denied legal professional qualification after passing the legal examination
On August 14, 2026, Xu Yan, a human rights defender and wife of lawyer Yu Wensheng, was denied legal professional qualification by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice after passing the legal examination. The bureau cited rules barring people convicted of intentional crimes from registering for the examination. Yu said Xu had no prior criminal punishment and would seek administrative reconsideration from the Ministry of Justice within 60 days.Li Yuanfeng’s Statement to the Court: An Appeal to the World; Let God Decide!
Li Yuanfeng says he was detained in China after refusing demands to stop speaking on Twitter and writing online. He was administratively detained for 15 days, criminally detained on October 26, 2024, and placed under residential surveillance on November 13, 2024, over alleged incitement to subvert state power. In September 2025, the Yiyang Municipal Procuratorate indicted him. He says authorities restricted his lawyer’s access to case files and seized books and rights-defense materials.Zion Church Case: Wu Qiuyu’s father and Elder Wang Zhong’s wife went to the Beihai Municipal People’s Procuratorate and the Letters and Visits Bureau at the Beihai Municipal Political and Legal Affairs Commission’s premises to submit professional opinions that they did not constitute the crime of illegal business operations and requests for release on bail pending trial
On August 14, 2026, Wu Qiuyu’s father and Elder Wang Zhong’s wife visited the Beihai Municipal People’s Procuratorate and the Letters and Visits Bureau at the Beihai Municipal Political and Legal Affairs Commission to submit legal opinions and request bail. They argued that Wu Qiuyu and Wang Zhong did not commit illegal business operations, and urged supervision of the Yinhai District People’s Court and Wu’s immediate release.Anhui Fuyang Seed Reformed Church Case Adjudicated: Pastor Zhang Sen Sentenced to 1 Year and 7 Months, Pastor Chang Shun to 1 Year and 6 Months, Elder Ma Tao to 1 Year and 4 Months
The Anhui Fuyang Seed Reformed Church case was adjudicated on August 10, 2026. Pastor Zhang Sen was sentenced to one year and seven months, ending January 24, 2027; Pastor Chang Shun to one year and six months, ending November 18, 2026; and Elder Ma Tao to one year and four months, ending October 28, 2026. All were convicted of “organizing illegal gatherings.”Christian preacher Sun Chao from Xuanwei County, Yunnan, placed under criminal detention
On August 13, 2026, the Rights Defense Network Information Center reported that Christian preacher Sun Chao of Xuanwei County, Yunnan, had been placed under criminal detention. Authorities took him into custody on July 25 for alleged “illegal proselytizing,” initially imposing 12 days of administrative detention. His wife was then told he had been transferred on suspicion of “the crime of illegally organizing gatherings.” Sun, who has epilepsy, was previously detained in April 2024 and June 2025.Shenzhen Legal Self-Media Personality and Legal Education Blogger “Criminal Observer” Zhao Hongliang Administratively Detained for 8 Days After Being Compulsorily Summoned by Longhua District Police in Shenzhen
Shenzhen legal self-media personality and Weibo influencer Zhao Hongliang, known as “Criminal Observer,” was taken by police from Shangtang Police Station on August 10, 2026. After more than 24 hours under compulsory summons, he was administratively detained for eight days, from August 11 to August 19, for allegedly disrupting order in a public place. Authorities may have acted over slogans on his car concerning judicial authorities in Shangqiu.Shenzhen Legal Self-Media Writer and Legal Education Blogger “Criminal Observer” Zhao Hongliang Compelled to Appear Before Police in Shenzhen’s Longhua District for More Than 24 Hours and Still Has Not Returned
Shenzhen legal self-media writer and Weibo influencer Zhao Hongliang, known as “Criminal Observer,” was taken away on August 10, 2026, by officers from the Shangtang Police Station under a compulsory summons and had not returned by August 13. Authorities previously summoned him over alleged disruption of public order, possibly linked to slogans posted on his car. Zhao is also pursuing legal action and petitioning over earlier cases.Nine Years! August 2017–August 2026: Renowned Human Rights Lawyer Mr. Gao Zhisheng Has Been forcibly disappeared for a Full Nine Years! This Website Strongly Demands That the Chinese Communist Authorities Immediately Return Gao Zhisheng His Freedom and Strongly Calls on the Governments of All Democratic Countries and the International Community to Act for Mr. Gao Zhisheng’s Freedom
The Rights Defense Network Information Center reported on August 13, 2026, that human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng has been unheard from since police allegedly took him away in Shanxi on August 19, 2017. Authorities in Beijing, Shaanxi and Shanxi have denied detaining him and provided no explanation to his family. Gao, previously imprisoned and tortured for rights advocacy, remains missing, with his location and condition unknown.Hubei Human Rights Defender Yin Xu'an Has Been forcibly disappeared for One Year After Traveling to Beijing for Medical Treatment
Hubei human rights defender Yin Xu’an has remained forcibly disappeared since authorities intercepted him in Beijing on August 11, 2025, while he was boarding an emergency ambulance for treatment. His family’s lawyers searched locally twice without finding him, while government departments passed responsibility. Yin, from Daye City, has serious hypertension, coronary heart disease and other illnesses. He previously served multiple prison terms, most recently four years and six months, ending November 22, 2023.Famous human rights defender and citizen journalist Zhang Zhan, sentenced to four years, is currently detained in Ward 5 of Shanghai Women's Prison
According to the Zhang Zhan Support Group, citizen journalist and human rights defender Zhang Zhan is currently detained in Ward 5 of Shanghai Women’s Prison. She was sentenced in 2020 to four years for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” ending May 13, 2024. After her August 2024 arrest, she was sentenced again by the Shanghai Pudong New Area People’s Court on September 19, 2025, to four years, ending August 28, 2028.Chinese Research Institutions’ Investigation Finds Rising Heavy Metal Levels in Water Quality and Sediments in Tibet Reservoir Areas
On August 12, 2026, the Rights Defense Network Information Center reported that an April 2019 internal study by Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tsinghua University and China University of Geosciences in Wuhan examined water and sediment samples from the Angqu and Lancang River basins in Chamdo, Tibet. It found rising levels of total arsenic, iron and manganese in sediments near the Zongtongka Reservoir since construction of the Chamdo power station began.Latest Update on Detained Anhui Self-Media Writer Ms. Wu Huaiyun
The report says Anhui self-media writer Wu Huaiyun, born December 15, 1970, was arrested again in May 2025 and is being held at Lu’an Detention Center. She previously received a three-year, 10-month sentence from Huoshan County Court on September 20, 2023, for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” over Twitter posts, completing her sentence on January 11, 2025. Her reported case handlers are Wang Wenxiang or Wang Wenqiang and Sun Wenye.Feng Zhenghu: Behind a Notice of Acceptance—Thirty Years of Rights Defense by 41 Dispossessed Farmers from Xinzhuang and a Judicial Questioning of Whether the “New Law” Can Be Implemented
In June 2026, the Shanghai People’s Procuratorate accepted an administrative-litigation supervision application from 41 dispossessed farmers from Shanghai’s Xinzhuang Industrial Zone. The farmers say they suffered substantial property losses during 1995 land acquisition and that the Minhang District Government failed to respond to their 2021 application to protect their property rights. Their administrative reconsideration application was rejected in 2024, and courts at three levels upheld that decision. Procuratorial review remains ongoing.The Case Details and Biography of Ms. Yan Jingqiu, a Qingdao Falun Gong Practitioner Sentenced to Four Years and Six Months
On August 11, 2026, the Rights Defense Network Information Center reported that Yan Jingqiu, a 67-year-old Falun Gong practitioner from Qingdao, was sentenced to four years and six months in prison. Police arrested her on March 14 while she was going to repair a schoolbag. The Qingdao Shinan District Court held her trial on July 29 at the Qingdao No. 1 Detention Centre. Her sentence runs until September 13, 2030.Sichuan Ya'an Yucheng District citizen Chen Mingyan, sentenced to four and a half years, released after completing her sentence on August 10, 2026
Chen Mingyan, a human rights defender and petitioner from Yucheng District, Ya’an City, Sichuan Province, was released on the morning of August 10, 2026, after completing a four-and-a-half-year sentence for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” She had been arrested in 2022 for safeguarding individuals’ lawful rights and helping vulnerable people participate in rights defense activities.Famous democracy activist and human rights activist Qin Yongmin, sentenced to 13 years, will spend his 73rd birthday in prison; he has spent a cumulative 33 years and 7 months in Chinese Communist Party prisons to date
Qin Yongmin, born August 11, 1953, is a democracy and human rights activist from Ezhou, Hubei Province. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison for subversion of state power in a verdict upheld on appeal, with his sentence running until January 20, 2028. The report says he has spent 33 years and seven months imprisoned and is currently held at Guanghua Prison in Qianjiang, Hubei.Yao Lifa: An Open Letter to Voters in Shenzhen
Yao Lifa, identified as a voter in Qianjiang, Hubei Province, and a former Qianjiang People’s Congress deputy, outlines electoral rights under Guangdong Province’s Detailed Rules for the Implementation of Elections to the People’s Congresses at All Levels, revised in March 2016. The list covers election information, voter-list appeals, nominations, candidate discussions, meetings, secret ballots, recalls and reporting election violations. It is dated August 10, 2026.Case Details and Biography of Ms. Zhang Ailian, a Falun Gong Practitioner from Shizhong District, Zaozhuang City, Shandong Province, Sentenced to 3 Years and 6 Months
On August 10, 2026, the Rights Defense Network Information Center reported that Zhang Ailian, a 67- or 68-year-old Falun Gong practitioner from Shizhong District, Zaozhuang City, Shandong Province, was arrested in September 2025 after allegedly distributing Falun Gong materials. She was later sentenced to three years and six months and sent to Jinan Women’s Prison. Her sentence runs until March 2029; her husband died during her detention.
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