Imprisoned Labour Rights Activists in China

June 2007

This list includes those who have been detained and sentenced for their alleged involvement in labour unrest or labour organizing. It is not exhaustive. It does not include those who may have been detained for a short period following a strike or labour unrest and then released without charge or trial; neither does it include those activists who are now released or presumed released nor those whose whereabouts are unknown.

Prisoner Details

Gao Hongming 高洪明

In January 1998, Gao Hongming and Zha Jianguo 查建国 (sometimes translated as Cha), wrote to the head of the state-controlled All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU), Wei Jianxing, and applied for permission to form an autonomous labour group called the China Free Workers Union. In a statement faxed to the National People’s Congress at that time, Gao said: “China’s trade unions at all levels have become bureaucracies, and their officials reduced to bureaucrats. This has resulted in the workers becoming alienated [from the official union].” In early 1999, after also playing a leading role in the formation of the now-banned China Democratic Party (CDP), both Gao Hongming and Zha Jianguo were arrested and charged with “incitement to subvert state power.” On August 2, Gao was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment and Zha to nine years. On September 17, 1999 the Beijing High People's Court rejected the appeals of both men.

He Chaohui何朝辉

He Chaohui, 44, a former railway worker at the Chenzhou Railway Bureau, and vice-chairperson of the Hunan Workers Autonomous Federation during the May 1989 pro-democracy movement, was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment in 1990 for organising a strike by railway workers in May 1989. In 1997 and 1998, He reportedly took part in several more strikes and demonstrations and gave information on the protests to overseas human rights groups. He was also said to have been active at that time in forming a group to lobby for China’s signing and ratification of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. In April 1998, the police detained He after finding a US$300 cheque sent to him by an American university professor. This was seen as confirmation that he had provided overseas groups with information about the recent workers' protests in Hunan. He was later released due to a lack of evidence, but was then rearrested May 1999 on the charge of “endangering state security and illegally providing information to foreign organizations.” After a three-hour trial the following month, He was sentenced on 24 August 1999 to 10 years’ imprisonment.

Hu Mingjun 胡明军 [sometimes胡明君]

Hu Mingjun and Wang Sen 王森, both leaders of the Sichuan provincial branch of the banned China Democratic Party (CDP), were detained by police in 2001 after they communicated with striking workers at the Dazhou Steel Mill. On 18 December 2000, about 1000 workers at the factory had organised a public demonstration demanding payment of overdue wages, and Hu and Wang subsequently made contact with the demonstrating workers. Wang, a resident of Dazhou, was arrested on 30 April 2001 and Hu, a resident of Chengdu, was arrested on 30 May. The two men were initially charged with “incitement to subvert state power” but the charges were subsequently increased to actual “subversion”. On May 2002, at the Dazhou Intermediate People’s Court, Hu was sentenced to 11 years’ imprisonment and Wang received a 10-year sentence. An article appeared in the Epoch times in 2006 under the pen name of Hu Mingjun but it is not clear if this is the same person. There has been no evidence of Hu’s release. According to Wang Sen’s wife, Hu is still detained in Chuanzhong Prison.

Hu Shigen 胡石根

A former academic at the Beijing Foreign Languages Institute, Hu Shigen (also known as Hu Shenglun) was a founder member of both the Free Labour Union of China (FLUC) and the China Liberal Democratic Party (CLDP) in 1991 and 1992 respectively. Arrested in May 1992 along with fifteen other unofficial trade union and party activists from the two groups, he was charged on twin counts of “organising and leading a counterrevolutionary group” and “engaging in counterrevolutionary propaganda and incitement.” After two years of detention, Hu Shigen and the other members of the “Beijing Sixteen” were brought to trial in Beijing. Hu received the heaviest sentence of all – 20 years’ imprisonment – and he is not due to be released until May 2012. According to recent sources, Hu Shigen received  a seven month reduction in December 2005, shortly after he was interviewed by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture during his first ever China visit. He is now due for release on 26 October 2011. He is serving his sentence in Beijing No.2 Prison and suffering from malnutrition, protrusion of the intervertebral disc, stomach and head pain.

Jiang Cunde 蔣存德

Jiang Cunde, was a worker at the Dong Xin Tool Repair Works in Shanghai when, in 1985 and 1986, according to the authorities, he began to advocate "imitating the model of Poland's Solidarity Trade Union to overthrow the present political powers." He reportedly also planned to establish a "China Human Rights Committee." In May 1987, Jiang and two others were convicted on charges of planning to hijack an airplane, and he was sentenced to life in prison for counterrevolution. In January 1993, Jiang was released from Tilanqiao Prison in Shanghai on medical parole. In 1999 he was rearrested for having allegedly "joined a reactionary organization, written reactionary articles and sent them to news agencies, and used the occasion of the US bombing of China's embassy in Belgrade in 1999 to stir up trouble." Jiang was returned to Tilanqiao Prison in June 1999 to continue serving his life sentence. In August 2004, his sentence was commuted to 20 years' imprisonment, and he is currently due for release in August 2024. [NB: Although Jiang was originally convicted of an internationally recognized criminal offence (hijacking an airplane), he has been included on lists of non-violent detained worker activists because the grounds officially given for his re-imprisonment in 1999 related solely to his exercise of the right to freedom of association and expression, and because of his earlier espousal of independent trade unionism in China.]

Kong Youping 孔佑平

A former official trade union official in Liaoning Province, Kong Youping was  sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment on 16 September 2004 by the Shenyang Intermediate People's Court. Kong's colleague and co-defendant at the September 2004 trial, Ning Xianhua 宁先华, was sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment. Kong, 54 years old, originally worked as the union chairman at a state-owned enterprise in Liaoning, but his support for protests by laid-off workers and his sharp criticism of government corruption and suppression led to his dismissal from both the factory and the union. In the late 1990s, a group of political (unconfirmed photo of Kong Youping) dissidents, including Kong Youping, were working to establish a branch of the China Democracy Party (CDP) in Liaoning Province, and in 1999 Kong was detained and imprisoned for a year on charges of “incitement to subvert state power”. Prior to his recent arrest and trial, Kong was reportedly involved in planning the establishment of an independent union and had posted articles on the Internet criticizing official corruption and calling for a reassessment of the violent suppression of the 1989 Democracy Movement by the army. The specific charges laid against Kong Youping and Ning Xianhua at their trial are currently unknown.

Li Wangyang李旺阳

 Li was first arrested in June 1989 and sentenced to 13 years imprisonment the following year on charges of “counter-revolutionary propaganda and incitement” for founding the Shaoyang Workers' Autonomous Federation and leading workers’ strikes during the 1989 pro-democracy movement. He was released in June 2000, but in February 2001, he staged a 22-day hunger strike in an attempt to obtain medical compensation for injuries to his back, heart and lungs that he had sustained while in prison, and which reportedly left him unable to walk unaided. For staging the hunger-strike protest, Li was again arrested by the police. On 5 September 2001, he was tried in secret by the People's Intermediate Court of Shaoyang on the charge of “incitement to subvert state power” and sentenced to a further 10 years’ imprisonment.         

Li Xintao李信涛
Li Xintao, male, aged 52 and Kong Jun, female, aged 42, two labour rights activists from Shandong Province, were tried on May 11 2005 by the Mouping District Court in Yantai City, Shandong. They were found guilty of “disrupting government institutions” and “disturbing social order”. Kong and Li were sentenced to two and five years’ imprisonment respectively. (Li was reportedly detained in November 2004; the date of Kong’s detention is not known.) They had organised public protests against the bankruptcy of their factory, the Huamei Garment Company, and had sent official complaints to Shandong provincial officials. According to Li and Kong, managers at the company, which declared bankruptcy in August 2002, had failed to pay the workers’ wages or social insurance benefits from March 2001 onwards. Both worker activists expressed the wish to appeal against their sentences but were reportedly unable to find lawyers willing to represent them. Kong is presumed released in 2006

Liu Jian 刘健

Liu Jian, now in his early forties, and Liu Zhihua 刘智华, age unknown, were both workers at the Xiangtan Electrical Machinery Plant, Hunan Province, prior to June 1989 and participated in a demonstration by over 1,000 workers from the factory just after June 4 that year to protest the government’s violent suppression of the pro-democracy movement. After one of their fellow workers had his arm broken by the factory’s security guards, the demonstrators then allegedly ransacked the home of the security section chief. Arrested shortly afterwards, the two workers were tried and sentenced to life imprisonment in either August or October 1989 on charges of “hooliganism” and “intentional injury.” The government has not publicly produced any evidence linking either Liu Jian or Liu Zhihua to specific acts of violence or other genuine crime. Two other workers from the same factory, (Chen Gang 陈刚 and Peng Shi 彭实, also received life sentences for their involvement in the same protest action, but the sentences were later reduced and both men were reportedly released in 2004.) Liu Jian is apparently the only one of the four detained Xiangtan Electrical Machinery Plant workers who has still not had his life prison term reduced to a fixed-term sentence. He is currently being held at the Hunan Provincial No.6 Prison (Longxi Prison.)

Liu Zhihua 刘智华

Formerly a worker at the Xiangtan Electrical Machinery Plant, Liu Zhihua was sentenced to life imprisonment in October 1989 for taking part in a mass protest against the government’s June 4 crackdown that year on the pro-democracy movement. (For further details of this incident and of the specific charges brought against Liu, see the case of Liu Jian 刘健) In September 1993, his sentence was reduced to 15 years' imprisonment with five years' subsequent deprivation of political rights, but in 1997 his sentence was extended by five years after he allegedly committed ''injury with intent'' in prison. His effective combined sentence then became 16 years' imprisonment (sentence to run from January 1997 to January 2013). In June 2001, Lui Zhihua’s sentence was again reduced by two years, and he is now due to be released on 16 January 2011. He is currently being held at the Hunan Provincial No.6 Prison (Longxi Prison).

Luo Mingzhong羅明忠

Luo Mingzhong, born in 1953, was a retired worker from the Tianyuan Chemical Factory, in Yibin, Sichuan Province. He led other factory workers to fight for compensation after the factory was privatized. On 22 March 2004, Luo was administratively detained for 10 days for blocking highways and obstructing traffic in the course of the protests. In July 2005, Luo, together with fellow retired workers Zhan Xianfu, Zhou Shaofen, Luo Huiquan, led workers to block the factory’s main gate in protest against the insufficient compensation they were being offered for the loss of their jobs. The Yibin City Public Security Bureau then arrested the four workers’ leaders for allegedly “assembling to disturb social order”. In April 2006, the Cuiping District Court in Yibin City convicted them on the same charges. Luo Mingzhong and Luo Huiquan were each sentenced to two years’ imprisonment, while Zhan and Zhou were sentenced to one and a half years’ imprisonment, suspended for one and a half years. On the day of trial, the local trade union guarded the court room and refused admittance to workers. Their appeals failed and they are belived to be due for release in July 2007.

Luo Huiquan駱惠全

Luo, born in 1957, sentenced to two years’ imprisonment. See case of Luo Mingzhong (above).

Ni Xiafei and Miao Jinhong

Ni Xiafei and Miao Jinhong led a group of migrant workers in Zhejiang Province in blocking a railway line and attacking a police station to protest unpaid wages. Both men were detained in October 2000 and were subsequently tried and each sentenced to 8 years’ imprisonment (charges unknown.)

Ning Xianhua 宁先华

Ning Xianhua was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment on 16 September 2004 by the Shenyang Intermediate People’s Court. Ning’s colleague and co-defendant at the trial, Kong Youping was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.

The specific charges laid against Kong Youping and Ning Xianhua at their trial are currently unknown.

Ning Xianhua

Shao Liangchen 邵良臣

Shao was a leading member of the Ji’nan Workers’ Autonomous Federation in Shandong Province during the May 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations. He was detained by police on 15 June 1989, tried in September that year by the Ji’nan Intermediate People’s Court on charges of “sabotaging communications equipment” and then sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve. His sentence was subsequently reduced to life imprisonment, and then in July 1994 to 17 years’ imprisonment. He received two further sentence reductions in 1998 and 2000, totaling three years and six months, bringing his date of release to November 4, 2007. Shao Liangchen is currently serving his sentence in Weihu Prison, Shandong Province. According to sources, Shao was granted medical parole and released on 8 September 2004 however, according to the journal “Beijing Spring” October 2005 issue (http://beijingspring.com/bj2/2005/420/2005930184459.htm), Shao passed away in late 2004, two months after he was released on medical grounds. Shao was reportedly diagnosed with leukemia in 2004. There has been no official confirmation of his death.

She Wanbao佘萬寶 

She, a 48-year-old Sichuan native, was reportedly a labour organiser and a member of the China Democratic Party (CDP). He was previously convicted of counter-revolutionary propaganda and incitement by the Guangyuan Intermediate People’s Court in Sichuan Province and was sentenced on 3 November 1989 to four years’ imprisonment. He was released in July 1993, but was rearrested around five years later in connection with his CDP activities. On 25 October 1999, the Sichuan Higher People’s Court upheld a conviction on “subversion” charges passed down by the Guangyuan Intermediate People’s Court. He was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment, and has been held at the Chuanzhong Prison since 5 April 2000. On 9 September 2005, She’s sentence was reduced by six months. He will be due for release on 6 January 2011.

Wang Miaogen 王妙根

Wang, a manual worker in Shanghai at the time of the May 1989 pro-democracy movement, was a leading member of the Shanghai Workers Autonomous Federation which was formed that month. Detained shortly after the June 4, 1989 government crackdown, Wang then spent two and a half years in police detention undergoing “re-education through labour” on account of his involvement in the banned workers’ group. In April 1993, after he committed an act of self-mutilation in front of a Shanghai police station in public protest against having recently been severely beaten up by the police, he was subsequently detained and then forcibly committed to the Shanghai Ankang Mental Hospital, a facility run by the Public Security Bureau to detain and treat mentally ill people. Wang has been held incommunicado at the Shanghai Ankang now for more than 12 years.

Wang Sen 王森

Wang Sen and Hu Mingjun, both leaders of the Sichuan provincial branch of the banned China Democratic Party (CDP), were detained by police in 2001 after they communicated with striking workers at the Dazhou Steel Mill. On 18 December 2000, about 1000 workers at the factory had organised a public demonstration demanding payment of overdue wages, and Hu and Wang subsequently made contact with the demonstrating workers. Wang, a resident of Dazhou, was arrested on 30 April 2001 and Hu, a resident of Chengdu, was arrested on 30 May. The two men were initially charged with “incitement to subvert state power” but the charges were subsequently increased to actual “subversion”. On May 2002, at the Dazhou Intermediate People’s Court, Hu was sentenced to 11 years’ imprisonment and Wang received a 10-year sentence.
According to one activist, Wang was a lawyer in Dazhou who was active in supporting farmers and workers in their struggle for lower taxes labour rights. After his arrest,  Wang suffered from diabetes and his eyesight deteriorates. His wife has applied for medical parole several times which have been denied. She has also been required to pay for his medical treatment by the prison authorities and is struggling to pay the necessary fees. She also complained that the prison had failed to let the family visit Wang in accordance with the normal visit procedure and Wang’s letters could never reach his family.

Yao Fuxin 姚福信

After the Ferro-Alloy Factory in Liaoyang, Liaoning Province, was declared bankrupt in early 2002, the local workers elected Yao Fuxin as one of their spokespeople to conduct negotiations with the local government. In March 2002, Yao and his fellow worker Xiao Yunliang 萧云良 then helped to organise a series of massive protest demonstrations in Liaoyang. Yao was secretly detained 17 March 2002, and charged together with Xiao Yunliang, with the crime of "illegal assembly and demonstration". Subsequently, on account of his alleged involvement in the banned China Democracy Party (CDP) – he has consistently denied such involvement – the charge of "subversion" was brought against him. (In November 2002, during a press conference in Beijing, Deputy-Chairman Zhang Junjiu of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) stated that Yao had been “detained because he broke Chinese law by carrying out car-bombings and not because he organised a worker’s campaign”. This ludicrous allegation was later denied even by the chairman of the Liaoyang ACFTU branch, a Mr. Su, who confirmed by telephone to China Labour Bulletin: "That is sheer rumour. There is no way that Yao Fuxin was involved in such activities.") Tried at the Liaoyang Intermediate People’s Court on 15 January 2003, Yao and Xiao were sentenced to seven and four years in prison respectively and will be due for release in March 2009. Xiao has been released on 23 February 2006 and his health deteriorated throughout the prison term. Like his fellow prisoner Xiao Yunliang, Yao has been plagued by serious health problems throughout his imprisonment.                                                                                               

Yue Tianxiang岳天祥

In 1995, Yue Tianxiang, a driver at the state-owned Tianshui City Transport Company, Gansu Province, was laid off from his job despite being owed three months’ back pay. When the company refused to negotiate a settlement regarding their wage arrears and to provide them with a legally entitled living allowance, Yue and another laid-off driver, Guo Xinmin 郭新民, decided to take their case to the Tianshui Labour Disputes Arbitration Committee. The Committee ruled that the company should find new positions for the two workers as soon as possible, but the company manager refused to implement this decision. When Yue and Guo learned that many of their fellow drivers in Tianshui faced the same kind of treatment, they set up a journal called China Labour Monitor and used it to publish articles on various labour rights-related issues, including reports of corruption at their former company. They also wrote an open letter to President Jiang Zemin asking for the central government to take action on these issues. In late 1998, after receiving no response from the authorities, they distributed their letter to the international news media. A few weeks later, in January 1999, they were detained by the Tianshui police and were eventually charged with “subversion of state power”. On 5 July 1999, Yue Tianxiang was tried and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment. (His fellow activist Guo Xinmin was also sentenced at the same time, but he was freed from prison around one year later.) According to recent sources, Yue reportedly received a one year sentence reduction on 23 March 2005 and is now due for release on 8 January 2008 (as opposed to January 2009.)

Zha Jianguo查建国 (sometimes known as Cha Jianguo)

Serving a 9-year sentence. See case of Gao Hongming 高洪明 for details.

Zhang Shanguang 张善光

Labour activist Zhang Shanguang, formerly a secondary school teacher, was first sentenced to seven years imprisonment after the June 4, 1989 government crackdown for his role in organising the Hunan Workers' Autonomous Federation in May of that year. While in prison, he contracted a severe case of tuberculosis. After his release, in early 1998, Zhang was interviewed by several overseas radio stations about widespread labor and peasant unrest in his home county of Xupu. He also attempted to officially register with the authorities, a labour rights group that he had recently founded (Zhang Shanguang) – the Association to Protect the Rights and Interests of Laid-Off Workers (APRILW). By July 1998, this association had attracted more than 300 members from all walks of life, including workers, peasants, intellectuals and cadres, and even some local officials were initially supportive of the group’s aims. On July 21 1998, the police detained Zhang, searched his home and confiscated all documents and correspondence relating to APRILW. Zhang’s wife, Hou Xuezhu 候雪竹, was questioned and threatened by the police, who also urged her to divorce her husband. His many supporters in Xupu County rose swiftly to his defense, writing numerous appeals and even staging hunger strikes demanding his release. According to one such appeal letter, “The work of Zhang Shanguang will surely encourage the people of Hunan and the whole country to wage an even wider-scale struggle to win democracy and freedom.” Subsequently charged on the twin counts of “passing intelligence to hostile overseas organisations” and “incitement to subvert state power,” Zhang was tried on 27 December 1998 and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment. His tuberculosis has continued to worsen and he is reportedly now in very poor medical condition. There have been numerous reports of ill treatment and torture while in prison.

Zhao Changqing 赵常青

Zhao, now 37 years old, was first arrested in June 1989 and detained for four months at Qincheng Prison, Beijing, for having organised a Students’ Autonomous Committee at the Shaanxi Normal University during the pro-democracy movement in May that year. He was arrested again in 1998 while teaching at a school affiliated with the Shaanxi Hanzhong Nuclear Industry Factory 813, after attempting to stand for election as a factory representative to the National People’s Congress and publicly criticising the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) for failing to defend workers interests. In an open letter to his fellow factory workers, dated 11 January 1998, Zhao wrote: “You should treasure your democratic rights. Even if I cannot run as a formal candidate, if you believe I am capable of representing you and of struggling for your interests, then I ask you to write in my name on the ballot. If elected, I will be worthy of your trust and will demonstrate my loyalty to you through my actions.” Before the workers’ ballots could be cast on January 14, Zhao was secretly detained by the police on suspicion of “endangering state security.” In July that year, he was tried at the Hanzhong City Intermediate People’s Court on charges of “subversion” and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment. After his release, in early November 2002 Zhao drafted and circulated an open letter to the National People’s Congress demanding, among other things, an official reassessment of the 1989 pro-democracy movement and the release of all political prisoners. In due course, 192 other political dissidents signed the letter, thereby attracting widespread international attention to what was the most significant political action by Chinese dissidents in recent years. In December 2002, Zhao Changqing was arrested by police for the third time and was later sentenced to 5 years’ imprisonment for “incitement to subvert state power”.

Zhu Fangming 朱芳鸣

Zhu was a 28-year-old worker at the Hengyang City (Hunan Province) Flour Factory and vice-chairman of the Hengyang City Workers Autonomous Federation. He organised demonstrations and took part in sit-in in front of the municipal government offices. After the events of June 4, he allegedly led workers to the municipal Public Security Bureau to demand justice. He was sentenced in December 1989 by the Hengyang City Intermediate People’s Court to life imprisonment on a charge of “hooliganism”. In 1993, ICFTU received a reply from the Chinese government, indicating that Zhu was “released, acquitted of criminal responsibility”. Yet, due to the too-short-be-true prison term and lack of independent source to prove the release, Zhu is believed to be still held in Hengyang Prison (Hunan Provincial No.2 Prison). In October 2005, the Chinese government maintained that Zhu "was never punished" for his activities in 1989 and it stated that he is once again working at Hengyang's Xihu Flour Factory. This information is at total variance, however, with the original reporting of the case in the Hunan Daily.

List compiled by IHLO

June 2007