Chinese #MeToo activist sentenced to five years in prison, supporters say
Chinese journalist and #Metoo activist Sophia Huang Xueqin was sentenced to five years in prison on Friday on charges of “inciting subversion of state power” after she became a symbol of the country’s stalled feminist movement.
She was sentenced alongside labour activist Wang Jianbing, who was handed three years and six months, a group of their supporters said on social media platform X.
Huang wrote on social media about her experience of workplace sexual harassment as a young journalist at a Chinese news agency, in the wake of the global #MeToo movement.
With Wang, she was involved in running a regular gathering in the southern city of Guangzhou, a member of the supporters’ group told AFP last year, before they were both detained in 2021.
On Friday the court said the meetings, which took place from November 2020, “incited participants’ dissatisfaction with Chinese state power under the pretext of discussing social issues”, according to the “Free Huang XueQin & Wang JianBing” group.
Their trial took place in 2023 behind closed doors, with international rights groups raising concerns over the pair’s health during their detention.
On Friday, supporters posted pictures they said showed barriers erected around Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court, where the sentencing took place, with a heavy police presence.
Attempts to contact the court were unsuccessful, and the sentencing is not currently available on China’s national court document database.
She had been previously held by authorities, after returning from reporting on Hong Kong’s enormous pro-democracy protests in 2019.
(AFP)
Read more on FRANCE 24 English
Read also:
Being a feminist in China: A battle lost in advance
UN demands investigation into whereabouts of missing tennis star Peng Shuai
Alibaba fires worker who accused boss of rape, as China suppresses #MeToo movement
