Ding Jiaxi: Autocracy Must Perish — A Statement on Court

2023-04-09

Counting from the 1911 Revolution (Hsinhai Revolution), more than 110 years have passed. After several generations of sacrifices, the Chinese people are still living in a state of political oppression, economic control, and ideological enslavement. The dictator and his privileged interest group have constantly made use of high-tech means to strengthen their autocratic rule. But the civilization is propelling the course of history with a powerful force; a battle between democracy and autocracy is unfolding; their lifelong autocracy and long-term delusion of one-party dictatorship are coming to an end, and China’s social transformation is approaching day by day. Continue reading

XU Zhiyong: A Beautiful China – A Statement on Court

I want to have a dream, a beautiful China, with beauty and liberty, fairness and happiness. It will be a democratic China. The world will still be the world of all people over the world. It will not be a land ruled by one clan or one party, but really a country by the people, with its power from the votes, not from the guns. Continue reading

An Open Letter to Wang Zheng, Director of Zhejiang Prison Administration, on the protection of Lü Gengsong’s human rights and interests

Dear Director Wang Zheng,

Independent Chinese PEN Center (ICPC), PEN America, and PEN International are writing to you to draw your attention to the case of Mr. Lü Gengsong, a member of ICPC.  Mr. Lü is serving his sentence in Huzhou Changhu Prison, which is under your administration. Mr. Lü is 67 years old and is serving an 11-year prison sentence. It is reported that he has been repeatedly abused by a prison officer in various ways, his legal rights have been seriously violated, and his physical and mental health is worrying. For this reason, we ask your bureau to investigate and deal with it and ensure Mr. Lü ‘s basic rights and humane treatment in accordance with the law.

Continue reading

She Is Not Alone – A Joint Statement

She Is Not Alone
– A Joint Statement

The undersigned PEN centers and individuals are expressing our solidarity with Ms. Geling Yan, a prominent American-Chinese author residing in Berlin, for her struggle to restore her credit against Chinese state power. As shown in her open letter attached, Chinese authorities have suppressed her freedoms of expression and of the press in China, and been extending their long-arm censorship beyond through China’s expanding economic and political powers. We are calling the writers, journalists, publishers, distributors and media of conscience to support Ms. Yan’s One-Person-against-A-State struggle Continue reading

Where There Is Life, There Is Hope – Briefings on the Ninth Congress of ICPC and Its Administration Changes

Where There Is Life, There Is Hope

– Briefings on the Ninth Congress of ICPC and Its Administration Changes

From April 29 to May 13, 2020, the Independent Chinese PEN Center (ICPC) held online the ninth congress of its Membership Assembly. 82 of its 153 voting members signed up to attend the congress. The membership assembly held four plenary sessions, approved the work and financial reports submitted by the Board of Directors, and elected the new Board according to its Charter. Among 11 candidates, nine were elected as the directors. They are Mr. ZHAO Shiying, Mr. LI Hai, Mr. ZHAO Changqing, Ms. LI Jianhong, Mr. XU Yonghai. Ms. LIU Di, Mr. LIU Zhengqing, Mr. Song TAN and Mr. PEI Yiran. Mr. DU Daobin and Mr. SUN Honglu were elected as alternate directors. Eight of them are based in China mainland though the human rights situation there have been getting worse with 13 of their colleagues of ICPC members still imprisoned, including Mr. ZHANG Guiqi (aka LU Yang), the 12th candidate who have been detained for suspision of “inciting subversion” by the police in Shandong Province since May 1 before the ICPC election. Continue reading

THE DEMOCRACY OF THE IMAGINATION MANIFESTO

PEN International was founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere, emphasize the role of literature in developing understanding, stand for freedom of expression and act as a powerful voice on behalf of writers harassed, silenced, imprisoned and sometimes killed for their views. Continue reading

256. Zhang Guiqi

Name                      Zhang Guiqi

Penname               Lu Yang

Sex                              Male

Birth date                1971-01-04

Birth place             Xin County, Shandong Province Continue reading

236. TASHI WANGCHUK (Released)

Sex                              Male

Birth date                1985-05-08

Birth place              Kyegudo County, Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture,  Qinghai Province Continue reading

146. DU BIN (released)

Pen name               

Sex                                Male

Birth date                 1972-03-01

Birth place               Yancheng City, Shandong Province

Resident place         Fengtai District, Beijing City Continue reading

259. ZHANG ZHAN

Name                       Zhang Zhan

Sex                            Female

Birth date              1983-09-02

Birth place             Xianyang City, Shanxi Province

Resident place      Pudong New District, Shanghai City

Education              B.A in Finance at Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Master of Law at Fudan University, Shanghai

Profession               Freelance, citizen journalist, and former lawyer (disbarred),  (honorary Member of ICPC)

Date of arrest          2020-05-14 (subpoena), 2020-05-15 (criminal detention), 2020-06-19 (arrest)

Organ of arrest      Pudong  Branch of Public Security Bureau of Shanghai  City

Cause of arrest       Online dissident posts, interviews and reports on the Wuhan epidemic and video releases on YouTube and other social media

Charge                       Picking quarrels and provoking trouble

Date of sentence     2020-12-28

Organ of sentence  Intermediate People’s Court of Shanghai City

Sentence                    Four years imprisonment

Defender                   Lawyers ZHANG Keke and REN Quanniu

Place of jail              Detention Center of  Pudong New District, Shanghai City

Situation in jail      Tortured, and so on hunger strike for several months

Date of release        2024-05-14 (?)

Family contact        SHAO Wenxia (mother)

Donation to

Case adopted by     ICPC

Current Status        Main case

References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhang_Zhan
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3117734/no-appeal-chinas-jailed-coronavirus-citizen-journalist-zhang
https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa17/3496/2021/en/
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-55473501
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-55463241
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/28/world/asia/china-Zhang-Zhan-covid-convicted.html