China: Regime continues to jail activists and target critical artists, film makers and musicians

Civic space in China is still rated as ‘closed’ by the CIVICUS Monitor in its December 2024 annual report. China’s authoritarian state ruled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has systemically repressed fundamental freedoms. Human rights defenders and activists report harassment and intimidation; unfair trials; arbitrary, incommunicado and lengthy detentions; and torture and other ill-treatment for exercising their fundamental rights. Protests do occur but are quickly repressed, and critical civil society groups have been shut down.

In March 2024, the Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) reported that the authorities have arbitrarily detained thousands and convicted 1,545 prisoners of conscience in the past six years for peacefully advocating or exercising human rights. They added that every element of the Chinese criminal justice system - the police, procuratorate, and courts - is implicated in locking people away on baseless charges in blatant violation of the government’s domestic and international human rights obligations.

In April 2025, Amnesty International said that in 2024 the government continued to enforce repressive laws and policies that restricted the right to freedom of expression and other human rights. Human rights defenders were arrested, prosecuted and sentenced to long prison terms, and activists living overseas faced threats and intimidation. Prosecutions of intellectuals, artists and other Uyghur cultural figures continued, and the repression of Tibetan culture and language intensified.

On 16th May 2025, Human Rights Watch (HRW) made a submission ahead of the EU-China Human Rights Dialogue calling for the talks to be suspended and replaced by more meaningful and impactful measures due to the failure of Chinese officials to consider changing policies and adopting the reforms necessary to implement their human rights obligations.

Since the beginning of 2025, the regime extended the prison term for a Tibetan environmental activist, disappeared a Southern Mongolian dissident and jailed an activist for attending a dinner marking the inauguration of Taiwan’s leader. It also re-detained a journalist who investigated the COVID-19 pandemic, convicted a human rights lawyer and detained a dissident artist. A filmmaker has been convicted and a Uyghur rapper imprisoned. Protests against the death of a student were met with excessive force and censorship.

Association

Prison term for Tibetan environmental activist extended after he rejects charges

Chinese authorities extended the prison sentence of a Tibetan environmental activist from Sichuan province in January 2025 by an additional eight months after he rejected charges of “disrupting social order”.

According to Radio Free Asia (RFA), Tsongon Tsering had spoken out online against the illegal extraction of sand and gravel mining activity along the Tsaruma River in his village in Ngaba (in Chinese, Aba) prefecture. After posting this, Tsering was arrested and initially sentenced to eight months by the Kyungchu County People’s Court in October 2024 on charges of “disturbing social order” and “provoking trouble and picking quarrels”.

In January 2025, UN experts issued a joint communication to the Chinese government, in the form of an allegation letter, related to the summoning and interrogation of Tsongon Tsering and his subsequent detention.

Southern Mongolian dissident disappeared

Hada, a prominent Southern Mongolian dissident and long-time political prisoner, disappeared in February 2025 following his hospitalisation by Chinese authorities for an alleged “urgent medical condition.”

His family said say they were prevented from visiting him in the hospital in China’s northern region of Inner Mongolia after he was rushed there for emergency treatment while under house arrest.

Hada’s hospital stay could be linked to his nomination for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize by Japanese lawmakers, who cited his continuing advocacy for his people living under Chinese Communist Party rule despite years of persecution.

In 1995, Hada was arrested and later sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges of “separatism and espionage.” Upon completing his sentence in 2010, instead of being freed, he was subjected to an additional four years of extrajudicial detention and has been under house arrest in a place tightly guarded by the Chinese Public Security authorities.

Activist jailed for attending dinner marking inauguration of Taiwan’s leader

A court sentenced rights activist Chen Mingyu to 2.5 years in prison for attending a celebratory dinner in 2024 marking the inauguration of Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te.

According to RFA, she was convicted by the court in Chongqing of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” a vague, catch-all charge often used by Chinese authorities to punish government critics or dissidents.

The case stems from a dinner in May 2024 attended by Chen and more than 20 other rights activists in Chongqing, said Weiquanwang, or the Rights Protection Network, a loose network of volunteers in China and abroad seeking to promote legal reforms in China. Chen was arrested in July 2024 and sentenced in March 2025.

Journalist who investigated COVID-19 re-detained

Zhang Zhan, a whistleblowing citizen journalist, has been re-detained for supporting pro-democracy activist Zhang Pancheng, and reporting on human rights violations in the country.

Zhang Zhan was first detained on 14th May 2020 after she travelled to the city of Wuhan to courageously report on the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, documenting overflowing hospitals, empty shops, and families of victims and independent journalists being harassed by the authorities.

She was convicted of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” after a sham trial. On 13th May 2024, after completing a four-year prison sentence, Zhang Zhan was released. According to Amnesty International, since her release she has been subjected to strict surveillance and continuous harassment by the authorities.

She faces new charges - also of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” - and will likely stand trial at the Pudong New Area People’s Court in Shanghai. Zhang’s family have also faced intimidation and threats from the authorities to prevent them from disclosing details of Zhang Zhan's case to the international community.

Human rights lawyer Lu Siwei convicted

Human rights lawyer Lu Siwei was sentenced to 11 months in prison and a fine of 10,000 yuan (USD 1,370). The sentence was handed down by the Chenghua District Court in a closed-door trial held on 18th April 2025. Lu Siwei was accused of “illegally crossing the border” from China to Laos.

The court process was allegedly held in secret to deny public access. Spectators were not allowed in, and courtroom passes were not issued. Lu Siwei’s friends and supporters were also intimidated through surveillance and police harassment.

As a lawyer, Lu Siwei has represented people in politically sensitive cases, including the 12 Hong Kong activists arrested in 2020 and fellow Chinese human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng. Since 2021, Lu Siwei has been systematically targeted for his human rights work. He has been disbarred from legal practice, banned from international travel, put on intrusive surveillance, and repeatedly harassed.

On 23rd July 2023, Lu Siwei - who held a US visa and a Chinese passport - was arrested by police in Laos while trying to travel to Thailand. He was planning to fly to the US to safely reunite with his family.

Expression

Filmmaker jailed for documentary on nationwide protests against COVID-19 lockdowns

In January 2025, a filmmaker was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for his documentary about China’s nationwide protests against COVID-19 lockdowns in late 2022. Chen Pinlin (pictured above) was sentenced by a Shanghai court following a three-hour trial behind closed doors. The 33-year-old filmmaker was sentenced to 3.5 years convicted of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” – a catch-all crime frequently used by the Chinese government to silence dissent and imprison activists, lawyers and journalists.

He was detained by Shanghai police in November 2023 after releasing the documentary to mark the first anniversary of what became known as the “White Paper” protests. The mass demonstrations marked the largest outpouring of public dissent China had seen in decades, posing an unprecedented challenge to leader Xi Jinping.

Police detain dissident artist Fei Xiaosheng

In January 2025, Chinese authorities in Xi’an detained Fei Xiaosheng, a prominent musician and performance artist who had publicly supported the Hong Kong democracy movement.

According to RFA, Xi’an police were holding him at the Beilin Detention Center. His detention comes as the ruling Communist Party continues to crack down on artists and other creative workers whose work or views are seen as potentially subversive.

As previously documented, in August 2024, Gao Zhen, another prominent Chinese artist and member of the Gao Brothers, was detained by authorities while traveling in China with his wife and son. Gao is charged with “slandering China’s heroes and martyrs,” a crime punishable by up to three years in prison. The Gao Brothers are known for their provocative sculptures, which critique the founder of the People's Republic of China, Mao Zedong, and his regime.

Uyghur rapper imprisoned

In March 2025, RFA reported that a young Uyghur rapper and singer-songwriter who has not been seen since his arrest 20 months ago is imprisoned in China and is serving a three-year sentence for composing lyrics that “promoted extremism.”

Yashar Shohret, 26, who previously participated in the 2022 “White Paper” protests in China, had been missing since his arrest in August 2023, in Chengdu, Sichuan province, where he had been attending university. The ‘White Paper’ protest movement erupted across China, during strict COVID-19 controls, when people took to the streets in numbers not seen for decades – many holding up blank sheets of paper to symbolise systematic censorship by the Chinese government.

A report by Weiquanwang, or Rights Protection Network, a loose network of volunteers in China and abroad seeking to promote legal reforms in China, found that Shohret had been sentenced to three years in prison in June 2024 on charges of “promoting extremism” and “illegally possessing items promoting extremism.” He is currently serving his sentence at the Wusu Prison in Xinjiang.

Journalists visiting deported Uyghurs in Xinjiang face surveillance

In March 2025, Thai journalists who had travelled to Xinjiang on invitation from Beijing to follow up on the well-being of Uyghurs deported from Thailand came under tight surveillance.

Chinese officials tightly controlled the visit to Xinjiang, insisting on viewing the journatlists’ photos and deleting any they didn’t approve of before they could be sent back to Thailand, said a journalist.

Pranot Vilapasuwan, news director at Thai-language daily Thairath said that the journalists were asked to blur the faces of Uyghurs and their families as well as Chinese officials, or to avoid taking pictures of Chinese officials at all. He also said journalists were vetted before the trip in interviews with Thai authorities.

Sunai Phasuk, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, said everything about the Thai government’s Xinjiang visit was “staged” and “managed” by China.

In February 2025, Thailand put 40 Uyghur men on a plane and deported them to Xinjiang, saying China had given assurances that they would not be mistreated and no third country had committed to take them. There have been serious concerns raised by human rights groups on the persecution of Uyghurs in China. In 2022, the UN released a report determining the possible commission of ‘crimes against humanity’ against Uyghurs and other Muslim peoples by Chinese authorities.

Police arrest Tibetans for Internet and phone use

In April 2025, HRW reported that the government had arrested dozens of people in Tibetan areas since 2021 for politically motived phone and internet-related offences. Tibetan journalists in exile report that these arrests typically target Tibetans accused of keeping “banned content” on their phones or contacting people outside China, including relatives.

The more than 60 reported cases appear to be related to an increase in government surveillance during this period, including through mass phone searches and the use of mandatory phone apps with built-in government surveillance, as well as a tightened regulatory regime on data and religion.

In many cases, those arrested were accused of keeping “banned content” on their phones or sharing it online, including references to Tibetan religious figures, particularly the exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and expressions of pro-Tibetan sentiment. Tibetans have also been arrested for posting content online that the police deem to be promoting the use of the Tibetan language. Chinese authorities have also arrested Tibetans for using their electronic devices to contact people outside China and for sharing information about Tibet abroad.

Peaceful Assembly

Death of student in Shaanxi sparks mass protests

A mass protest erupted on a campus in the northern Chinese province of Shaanxi following the mysterious death of a 17-year-old student at a vocational school in January 2025.

Civil society group, Human Rights In China (HRIC) said the family of the deceased student was prohibited from checking their child's corpse for any traumatic injuries, and were told the school's surveillance system was damaged after demanding to see security footage. The family claimed photos from the student's mobile phone had also been deleted.

Videos circulating online showed large crowds of people chanting outside the school with some protesters hurling objects at police. Heavily armed police used batons, kicking protesters and deploying tear gas to disperse the crowds. Authorities at a college also imposed three days of restrictions following the protests.

Officials in Shaanxi’s Pucheng county subsequently launched a probe into the death of the student following a “verbal and physical altercation” with a roommate. Police determined that the student had “died from falling from a height,” and that no foul play was suspected.

HRIC said that “the death of Dang Changxin and the violent crackdown on protests in Pucheng reveal systemic failures of transparency, accountability and governance in China’s local institutions.”

People in China frequently challenge those in power, despite pervasive surveillance, but public responses to official decisions are often swiftly erased from social media platforms, and those who take part warned off further speech or action.

Workers stage protests over unpaid wages

In May 2025, RFA reported that protests by construction workers, teachers, and factory employees demanding unpaid wages have erupted across China amid rising public anger over the impacts of tightening local government finances.

On 19th May 2025, workers of the No. 10 section of the Yangxin expressway civil engineering project under China Railway Seventh Group Co. Ltd. gathered in front of the Branch of the Management Department and demanded they be paid their back wages.

In Nanning city in Guangxi, 32 construction workers have been camped outside Guangxi Power Transmission and Transformation Construction Co. Ltd. since 16th May 2025, demanding their wages. A video posted on X showed the protestors making a fire and cooking meals in large woks at the entrance to the company. On 18th May, the protesters held up banners to demand the long-term wage arrears due to them.

Workers at the Qianlima Embroidery Factory in Haimen city in the coastal province of Jiangsu resorted to protesting outside their boss’s home for two consecutive days in May 2025, but still haven’t been paid, according to a video posted online.

While worker protests and labour disputes are not uncommon in China, social media posts point to an uptick in protests among sectors such as education, healthcare and sanitation.