Chinese dissident artist jailed for 3 years over Mao sculptures

August 26, 2026 Comments Off

By Reuters

Originally published by The Asahi Shimbun on August 26, 2026

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/16835989

A vendor attends to a customer next to images and statues depicting late Chinese chairman Mao Zedong, at the secondhand books section of Panjiayuan antique market in Beijing on Aug. 3, 2024. (Reuters file photo)

BEIJING—Chinese dissident artist Gao Zhen, known for making satirical sculptures of former leader Mao Zedong, was handed the maximum three-year sentence for “defaming national heroes and martyrs” by a Chinese court on Tuesday, ‌his wife and a rights group said.

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Shane Yi, a researcher at the Chinese Human Rights Defenders group, which operates outside the country, called for his release.

“The court has now sentenced him to three years … for artwork he made as far back as 2005, some 16 years before the law he was charged under even existed,” Yi said. “The only outcome that respects Gao Zhen’s rights is his immediate, unconditional release.”

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