Two Chinese activists held without trial for the past two years are expected to appear before a judge in a closed doors hearing on Friday as the ruling Communist Party ramps up its effort to dismantle what remains of the country’s civil society.
Independent journalist and #MeToo activist Huang Xueqin and labor rights activist Wang Jianbing were detained by authorities in the southern city of Guangzhou in September 2021.
The pair have been accused of inciting subversion of state power and will be tried at the Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court, according to supporters. Multiple calls to the court from CNN went unanswered on Friday.
Authoritarians hate when you air their dirty laundry.
As yes, secret trials. You know those ones are going to be fair.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Two Chinese activists held without trial for the past two years are expected to appear before a judge in a closed doors hearing on Friday as the ruling Communist Party ramps up its effort to dismantle what remains of the country’s civil society.
“The Chinese government has already effectively shut down independent NGOs roughly a decade ago, but it now appears that they want to go after even the informal solidarity that exists among free thinking people who could pose a potential political threat to the regime,” he said.
Huang, who worked as an investigative reporter for liberal-leaning media outlets in Guangzhou before becoming an independent journalist, had been an instrumental figure in sparking China’s #MeToo movement.
In 2018, she helped bring about the country’s first #MeToo case, using her influential social media presence to amplify the voice of a graduate student who accused her PhD supervisor of unwanted sexual advances.
She also spoke up about her own experiences of sexual harassment as a young intern at a national news agency, where she claimed she was groped and kissed by a senior male reporter and mentor.
“These baseless charges are motivated purely by the Chinese authorities’ relentless determination to crush critical voices,” said Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for China.
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