Imprisonment of Prominent Chinese Human Rights Defenders Condemned

“These sentences demonstrate the PRC’s continuing efforts to silence those who speak out for human rights and the rule of law,” said State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller in a statement.

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The United States condemns the “unjust imprisonment” by the People’s Republic of China of well-known human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng and his wife, Xu Yan. On October 29, a court in Suzhou handed down sentences of three years to Yu and one year and nine months to Xu, after finding them guilty of the so-called crime of “inciting subversion of state power.”

“These sentences demonstrate the PRC’s continuing efforts to silence those who speak out for human rights and the rule of law,” said State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller in a statement. The European Union, as well as the foreign ministries of France and Germany, also deplored the verdict and sentencing of Yu Wensheng and Xu Yan and called for their immediate release.

Yu and Xu were detained in April 2023 when they were on their way to a meeting with European Union officials in Beijing. Previously, as the State Department’s 2023 human rights report on the PRC noted, Yu was released in 2022 after serving a four-year prison term for his civil society efforts. He had defended the rights of other human rights lawyers who had been arrested and charged under the so-called “709” crackdown in 2015, when Chinese authorities rounded up more than 200 lawyers and activists. Yu’s wife Xu was a tireless advocate for her husband’s release.

Spokesperson Miller pointed out that during the pair’s August 2024 trial in Suzhou, authorities “barred the attendance of diplomats from several foreign missions, including those from the United States, undermining transparency that is critical to ensuring respect for Yu and Xu’s right to a fair trial.”

Spokesperson Miller said the United States calls on the PRC “to immediately and unconditionally release Yu Wensheng and Xu Yan. We also reiterate our request for the PRC to release all those unjustly detained or imprisoned. The United States,” he declared, “continues to stand with those who bravely fight for human rights in the PRC and around the world.”