Alert: China jails three for “picking quarrels” in ongoing assault on free expression

January 22, 2026 Comments Off

Pro-democracy activist, renowned writer, and former police officer sentenced

(Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders, January 22, 2026) In the past month, courts in China convicted a pro-democracy activist, a renowned writer, and a former police officer on charges of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” imposing sentences between 2.5 and 3.5 years. CHRD finds no publicly available evidence that the three individuals violated laws.

Cheng Xiaofeng, a former police officer turned activist, is known for assisting fellow residents in Zhuzhou City, Hunan Province, in seeking accountability from authorities for injustices they faced. He spoke out against the Chinese government’s draconian zero-Covid measures, and filed a formal application to organize a public protest in August 2021. Later that year, Cheng accompanied now-detained lawyer Xie Yang to support an elementary school teacher facing state threats of forced psychiatric treatment. Police detained Cheng on July 6, 2024, reportedly because of his online speech and activities supportive of other activists. He spent 1.5 years in pre-trial detention before a court in Hunan sentenced him to three years and six months for picking quarrels this month. The details of his detention, legal proceedings, and whether he had access to a lawyer of his choice remain unknown.

Columnist Min Liangchen mostly wrote about Chinese culture, history, and critiques of social issues. His articles have appeared in more than 300 publications since the 1980s. He had worked as an editor and commentator for several newspapers and magazines, and retired from Zhengzhou Evening News in 2013 after 10 years with the outlet. In recent years he continued to publish in Hong Kong and overseas publications, which is believed to be the reason for his detention. Police from Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, detained Min in April 2024, and the city’s Zhongyuan District Court sentenced him to three years in prison this month. Min is appealing his verdict.

Former police officer Yang Shunmin, from Rui’an City, Zhejiang Province, has been disclosing alleged abuse of power by public servants inside local legal departments since 2021. He recorded and published video clips on social media platforms including WeChat and Douyin. In 2024, his videos reached an average of 20K views, reportedly growing even more popular in 2025. Rui’an police detained Yang on April 18, 2025, claiming his videos caused ‘negative social impact.’ The Rui’an procuratorate charged him with picking quarrels and moved his case to Wenzhou in the same province, where the Ouhai District Court sentenced him to 2 years and 6 months for picking quarrels in December 2025. Yang is appealing his verdict.

Picking quarrels and provoking trouble has been one of the most frequently used charges by Chinese authorities against prisoners of conscience in the past five years, according to a report by CHRD from March 2025. In September 2025, the United Nations High Commissioner identified it as overly broad and vague and called for its repeal. In February 2023, a delegate to the National People’s Congress, Zhu Zhengfu, said the law should be revised because it is ill-defined and prone to abuse.

Freedom of expression is written into China’s constitution and guaranteed by international human rights law. Chinese authorities should immediately and unconditionally dismiss all charges and free those imprisoned merely for exercising this fundamental right.

For more information, please contact:

Sophie Richardson, Co-Executive Director, Chinese Human Rights Defenders,

sophierichardson[at]nchrd.org, +1 917 721 7473

Angeli Datt, Research and Advocacy Coordinator, Chinese Human Rights Defenders,

angelidatt[at]nchrd.org, +1 934 444 6155

Shane Yi, Researcher, Chinese Human Rights Defenders, shaneyi[at]nchrd.org