Yuan Xinting
China Hands Prison Terms to 3 Activists Promoting ‘Non-Violent Civil Disobedience’
3 Rights Advocates Are Sentenced to Prison in China
Yuan Xinting, also known as Yuan Chaoyang, is a Guangzhou-based human rights defender who was closely involved with a non-violent, civil disobedience movement in China. In 2009 he was fired from his job as an editor after he signed Charter 08, a manifesto which called for political reform, including an independent legal system, freedom of association and the elimination of the one-party rule He was disappeared by the Chinese authorities in 2011 for over three months on account of his human rights activities.
Chinese HRDs face intimidation, harassment, house arrest, abductions, torture and imprisonment. They also work under very restrictive legislation, including laws which criminalize all unauthorized demonstrations and require government sponsorship for NGO registration, which is refused to any organisation touching on human rights issues. Widescale investigations into NGOs with links to overseas organisations took place in 2014 and 2015 resulting in harassment, detentions and forced closures.
