Labor Activists Imprisioned in China

Some of the 15 to 20-year sentences for attempting to peacefully defend internationally recognized workers rights.

(Partial list prepared by China Labour Bulletin.  Updated as of February 28, 2000.)

 

Name	Place & Reason for Arrest	Date of Detention	Date of Trial/Sentence	Sentence	Place of Detention	Additional Information
Guo Qiqing	Jinmen city, Hubei - disrupting public order	August 21, 1999		1 year	Shayang County, Hubei Province	Guo Qiqing organized a sit-in to demand money owed to the workforce.
Guo Xinmin	Gansu - subverting the political power of the state	January 11, 1999	July 5 1999	2 years		Guo set up a newsletter entitled Workers’ Monitor and also organized workers into taking legal steps to secure  unpaid wages from the Tianshui City Transport Company.
Guo Yunqiao	Hunan – Leader of Yueyang City Workers’ Autonomous Federation	June 9, 1989	Sept. 1, 1989 revised on Sept 1, 1991	Death sentence  later commuted to life imprisonment on a charge of “hooliganism”	Hengyang Prison (Hunan Provincial No.2)	He reportedly led a protest march of 10,000 workers to the municipal government offices following the June 4th  Tienemen Square massacre.
He Chaohui	ÍHunan  – providing information	October 1998	August 24, 1999	10 years for illegally providing intelligence to foreign organizations		He was previously imprisoned for organizing workers’ demonstrations and strikes in Chenzhou.
Hu Min	Hunan – one of the founders of the Yueyang Workers’ Autonomous Federation who organized demonstrations & strikes	June 9, 1989		15 years for “hooliganism”	Hengyang Prison (Hunan Provincial  No. 2)
Hu Nianyou	Hunan – Changsha Workers’ Autonomous Federation	June 1, 1989		Minimum  of 10 years  for “looting”	Longxi Prison, (Hunan Provincial No.6)
Hu Shigen aka Hu Shenglun	Beijing – FLUC	May 27, 1992	July 4, 1994	20 years for “counter-revolutionary” crimes	Beijing  No.2 Prison	Seriously ill. Hu has swollen lymph nodes. Born in 1956, formerly an academic at the Beijing Foreign Languages Institute.

 

Name	Place & Reason for Arrest	Date of Detention	Date of Trial/Sentence	Sentence	Place of Detention	Additional Information
Huang Fan	Hunan – Yueyang Workers’ Autonomous Federation	June 9, 1989	Sept 1, 1989	7-15 years (exact sentence unknown) for “hooliganism”	Hengyang Prison (Hunan Provincial  No.2)
Huang Lixin	Hunan - Hunan Workers’ Autonomous Federation	June 9, 1989	Sept 1, 1989	7-15 years (exact sentence unknown) for “hooliganism”	Hengyang Prison (Hunan Provincial  No.2)
Kang Yuchun	Beijing - FLUC	May 27, 1992	July 4, 1994	17 years for “counter-revolutionary” crimes	Yanqing Jail, Beijing	Kang is seriously ill with heart problems and has been denied adequate medical treatment. Born in 1965, formerly a doctor in the Department of Psychiatry at Anding Hospital.  Reportedly ill-treated in prison.
Li Bifeng	Sichuan - sent reports to overseas human and workers’ rights groups about workers’ protests in Mianyang City in July 1997	March 8, 1998	April 6, 1998	7 years for “fraud”	Jiangyou City Detention Centre	Born in 1964, formerly an officer at Mianyang city tax bureau, southern Sichuan.  Jailed for 5 years in 1989 for participating in the Democracy Movement.
Li Qingxi	Shanxi - putting up notices calling for independent unions & contacting overseas labor & democratic organizations	Jan 16, 1998		1 year Re-education Through Labor	At his own home, in Shanxi Province	Former health worker at a clinic attached to the Datong City Coal Mining Administration.
Li Wangyang	Hunan – Shaoyang WAF	June 9, 1989		13 years for “Counter-revolutionary propaganda and incitement”	Longxi Prison  (Hunan Provincial No.6)	Li was the leader of the Shaoyang Workers Autonomous Federation, and was reported in the official press as “founding a completely autonomous workers’ organisaton”.
Liu Jingsheng	Beijing – FLUC	May 28, 1992	July 4, 1994	15 years for “counter-revolutionary crimes”	Formerly imprisoned at Beijing  No.2 prison but present whereabouts unknown	Seriously ill. Liu has a history of gastric problems, has lost teeth and is suffering from hypertension. Born in 1955, formerly a worker at the Tongyi Chemical Plant. Also detained during the Democracy Wall Movement of the late 1970s.

 

Name	Place & Reason for Arrest	Date of Detention	Date of Trial/Sentence	Sentence	Place of Detention	Additional Information
Wang Miaogen	Shanghai - attempting a public protest during East Asian Games	April 1, 1993		3 years, then forcibly committed to a psychiatric hospital	Shanghai An Kang Public Security Bureau Hospital	Born in 1954, formerly a manual worker. Served 2.5 years’ re-education through labor for involvement in Shanghai WAF during 1989.
Wang Zhaobo	Hunan - one of the leaders of the Yueyang Workers Autonomous Federation	June 9, 1989	Sept 1, 1989	7-15 years (exact sentence unknown)	Hengyang  Prison (Hunan Provincial No.2)	Organized strikes and demonstrations
Xu Wangpin	Sichuan		December, 1998	3 years for “disturbing social order”		A former factory worker, Xu had previously served 8 years in prison for trying to organize an independent trade union during the 1989 pro-democracy protests.
Yan Jinhong	Sichuan		January 20, 1999	1½  years’ Re-education Through Labor for  “disrupting social order”		Co-organizer of protest at Peijiang Iron and Steel factory in Jiangyou City - see Liu Dingkui
Yang Qinheng	Shanghai - reportedly for reading an open letter on Radio Free Asia on 27 January calling for the right to organize trade unions.	Late February 1998	March 27, 1998	3 years’ Re-education Through Labor for “inciting social unrest”		Aged 44, Yang completed 3 years’ re-education through labor in 1996. Active in petition campaigns, Yang also called for the reassessment of the official verdict on the 1989 Democracy Movement and the release of political prisoners.
Yao Guisheng	Hunan - Changsha Workers Autonomous Federation - helping other WAF members to escape arrest	June 4, 1989		15 years for “robbery and assault”	Longxi Prison (Hunan Provincial   No.6)	While helping others to escape, Yue got into an argument with a taxi driver over the fare. The authorities  used this as a pretext for the “robbery and assault” charge.
Yuan Shuzhu	Hunan - Yueyang Workers Autonomous Federation	June 9, 1989	Sept. 1, 1989	7-15 years (exact unknown) for “hooliganism”	Hengyang Prison (Hunan Provincial  No.2)

 

Name	Place & Reason for Arrest	Date of Detention	Date of Trial/Sentence	Sentence	Place of Detention	Additional Information
Yue Tianxiang	Gansu - subverting the political power of the state	January 11, 1999	July 5 1999	10 years		Yue set up the newsletter Chinese Workers’ Monitor. Also organized legal action to force wage arrears payment to laid-off and employed workers from the   Tianshui  Auto Transport Co. --See Guo Xinmin.
Zhang Jingsheng	Hunan  -  helping to organize the Hunan Workers’ Autonomous Federation			13 years	Hunan Yuanjing prison No. 1	Zhang was reportedly beaten by prison guards for leading a hunger strike in 1992.
Zhang Shanguang	Hunan - passing on “intelligence” to foreign organizations. He filed reports with  foreign radio stations about widespread labor and peasant unrest in his home county of Shupu.	July 21, 1998	December 27, 1998	10 years for supplying intelligence to [organizations] outside China”		Zhang’s sentence is directly connected to his attempt to set up the Shupu County Association for the Rights of Laid-off  Workers. He is 45 and dangerously ill with tuberculosis. On August 6 1998, he was beaten by members of a police-appointed militia because he allegedly failed to respond to questions.
Zhao Changqing	Shaanxi - for trying to stand for election as a factory representative to the National People Congress.	March 25, 1998	September 6, 1998	3 years		Zhao, 28, was formerly a worker at the Shaanxi Hanzhong Nuclear Industry Factory 813.  His election manifesto criticized  the All China Federation of Trade Unions for failing to defend workers’ interests. Spent 6 months in jail in 1989 for involvement in the pro-democracy movement.

 

 << BACK    |    NEXT >>