This list consists of activists who are known as Chinese dissidents. The label is primarily applied to

intellectuals An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking Critical thinking is the analysis of available facts, evidence, observations, and arguments to form a judgement. The subject is complex; several different definitions exist, ...

who "push the boundaries" of society or criticize the policies of the government. Examples of the former include

Wei Hui Zhou Wei Hui (; born 4 January 1973), known simply by her Chinese given name Wei Hui, is a Chinese Post 70s Generation writer, living and working in Shanghai and New York City. Her novel ''Shanghai Baby'' () (1999) was banned in the People's Rep ...

and

Jia Pingwa Jia Pingwa (; born 21 February 1952), better known by his penname Jia Pingwa (), is one of China's most popular authors of novels, short stories, poetry, and non-fiction. His best-known novels include ''Ruined City'', which was banned by the ...

, whose sexually explicit writings reflect dissent from traditional

Chinese culture Chinese culture () is one of the world's oldest cultures, originating thousands of years ago. The culture prevails across a large geographical region in East Asia and is extremely diverse and varying, with customs and traditions varying grea ...

rather than the laws of the state.

Detained and jailed people

Many

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

political

activists Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

have been detained or jailed or exiled for their

pro-democracy Democratization, or democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be a hybrid regime in transition from an authoritarian regime to a full ...

or rights defending activities. They include the following notable activists.

Others

Michael Anti (journalist) Jing Zhao (, born 1975), also known by his pen name Michael Anti, is a Chinese journalist and political blogger, recognized for his posts about freedom of the press in China. He has been described in mid-2000s as "at one time perhaps the most fa ...

, proponent of freedom of the press in China *

Chai Ling Chai Ling (; born April 15, 1966) is a Chinese psychologist who was one of the student leaders in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. She is the founder of All Girls Allowed, an organization dedicated to ending China's one-child policy, and t ...

* Chang Ping *

Chaohua Wang Chaohua Wang is a freelance essayist and researcher, with a Ph.D. in modern Chinese literature from the University of California, Los Angeles.Sullivan,MeSurvivor of Tiananmen Square reaches her goal — a Ph.D. 3 June 2009, at ''UCLA Today'' Wa ...

Chen Guangcheng Chen Guangcheng (born November 12, 1971) is a Chinese civil rights activist who has worked on human rights issues in rural areas of the People's Republic of China. Blind from an early age and self-taught in the law, Chen is frequently describe ...

Fang Lizhi Fang Lizhi (also Li-Zhi; February 12, 1936 – April 6, 2012) was a Chinese astrophysicist, vice-president of the University of Science and Technology of China, and activist whose liberal ideas inspired the pro-democracy student movement ...

Feng Congde Feng Congde (, born 5 March 1966 in Sichuan) is a Chinese dissident and Republic of China Restoration activist. He came into prominence during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 as a student leader from Peking University, which placed him onto ...

Feng Zhenghu Feng Zhenghu (born 1 July 1954) is a Chinese economist and scholar based in Shanghai. Citing Amnesty International, ''The Guardian'' said that Feng was "a prominent human rights defender" in Mainland China. In 2001 he was sent to prison for t ...

Gao Xingjian Gao Xingjian (高行健 in Chinese - born January 4, 1940) is a Chinese émigré and later French naturalized novelist, playwright, critic, painter, photographer, film director, and translator who in 2000 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature " ...

, recipient of the 2000

Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...

Gao Yu (journalist) Gao Yu (; born 23 February 1944) is a Chinese journalist and dissident who has been repeatedly imprisoned. Early life Gao was born in Chongqing. She attended the Language and Literature Department at the Renmin University of China, where she m ...

Gao Zhisheng Gao Zhisheng (born 20 April 1964) is a Chinese human rights attorney and dissident known for defending activists and religious minorities and documenting human rights abuses in China. Because of his work, Zhisheng has been disbarred and det ...

Gui Minhai Gui Minhai (, formerly ; born 5 May 1964), also known as Michael Gui, is a Chinese-born Swedish book publisher and writer. He is an author of many books related to Chinese politics and Chinese political figures; Gui authored around 200 books ...

, publisher and writer of books on Chinese politics *

Guo Wengui Guo Wengui (; born May 10, 1970—self claim or October 5, 1968), also known under the names Guo Haoyun (), Miles Guo, and Miles Kwok, is an exiled Chinese billionaire businessman who became a political activism, political activist and controls ...

, also known as Miles Guo *

Han Dongfang Han Dongfang (韓東方, born 1963) is a Chinese advocate for workers' rights. Han was born in the impoverished village of Nanweiquan in Shanxi and first came to international prominence as a railway worker in Beijing. He helped set up the Be ...

Jiao Guobiao Jiao Guobiao (; born 1963 in Qi County, Kaifeng, Henan) is a Chinese dissident who was formerly an associate professor at Peking University's College of Journalism and Communications until he was dismissed. A prominent journalist at ''Chinese ...

, former professor of

Peking University Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charter ...

and the author of ''Denouncing the Central Propaganda Department (of the Communist Party of China)'' * Li Hongkuan *

Li Lu Li Lu (born April 6, 1966) is a Chinese-born American value investor, businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder and chairman of Himalaya Capital Management. Prior to emigrating to America, he was one of the student leaders of the 198 ...

* Li Qiaochu *

Li Zehou Li Zehou (; 13 June 1930 – 2 November 2021) was a Chinese scholar of philosophy and intellectual history. He resided in the United States.. coloradocollege.edu He is considered an important modern scholar of Chinese history and culture whose ...

, scholar of philosophy and intellectual history *

Liu Binyan Liu Binyan (; February 7, 1925 – December 5, 2005) was a Chinese author, journalist, and political dissident. Many of the events in Liu's life are recounted in his memoir, ''A Higher Kind of Loyalty''. Early life Liu Binyan, whose family hail ...

Alex Liu The Independent Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars (IFCSS) was founded on August 1, 1989, when over 1000 Chinese student representatives from more than 200 Chinese Students and Scholars Association in major U.S. universities held their ...

(Yongchuan Liu), data scientist * Lu Jinghua, former merchant who became involved in the Beijing Workers' Autonomous Federation in 1989. She later lived in New York. Attempted to return to Beijing in June 1993 but was refused entry and sent back to US. * Murong Xuecun, writer and critic of censorship *

Shen Tong Shen Tong (Simplified Chinese: 沈彤; Hanyu Pinyin: Shěn Tóng) (born 1968) is an American impact investor, activist, and writer. He founded business accelerators FoodFutureCo in 2015 and Food-X in 2014, the latter of which is recognized by Fas ...

* Su Changlan * Su Xiaokang *

Tang Baiqiao Baiqiao Tang (; born 11 August 1967, Yongzhou; sometimes spelled ''Tang Boqiao'') is a Chinese political dissident from Hunan province who led student protests during the 1989 democracy movement. After the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and m ...

* Tashi Wangchuk, sentenced to 5 years in prison in May 2018 for "inciting separatism" after speaking to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' about his concerns over the current state of Tibetan culture and language in China. * Wang Bingzhang * Wang Meiyu (王美雨), democracy activist who died in police custody under suspicious circumstances in September 2019 after having been arrested for "

picking quarrels and provoking trouble Picking quarrels and provoking trouble () (also translated as picking quarrels and stirring up trouble or picking quarrels and making trouble) is a crime under the law of the People's Republic of China. The official translation of this crime is ...

" in July 2019 when he was protesting for universal suffrage and calling for the resignation of

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, s ...

and

Li Keqiang Li Keqiang (born 1 July 1955) is a Chinese politician who is the outgoing premier of China. An economist by profession, Li is head of China's executive branch as well as one of the leading figures behind China's Financial and Economic Affai ...

Wang Ruowang Wang Ruowang (; February 4, 1918 – December 19, 2001) was a Chinese author and dissident who was imprisoned various times for political reasons by both the Kuomintang and the Communist government of China for advocating reform and liberaliza ...

* Wu Fan *

Harry Wu Harry Wu (; February 8, 1937 – April 26, 2016) was a Chinese-American human rights activist. Wu spent 19 years in Chinese labor camps, and he became a resident and citizen of the United States. In 1992, he founded the Laogai Research Foun ...

Wu'erkaixi Örkesh Dölet ( ug, ئۆركەش دۆلەت, zh, 吾尔开希·多莱特; commonly known by his pinyin name Wu'erkaixi) is a political commentator known for his leading role during the Tiananmen protests of 1989. Of Uyghur heritage, he was bo ...

Xie Wanjun Xie Wanjun () (born July 10, 1967) a Chinese political activist who has fled to the United States. He is currently the chairman of China Democracy Party. He was an active student during the Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989. On October 17, 1996, h ...

, founding member of the Democracy Party of China *

Xiong Yan (dissident) Xiong Yan (; born 1 September 1964) is a Chinese-American human rights activist, military officer, and Protestant chaplain. He was a dissident involved in 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. Xiong Yan studied at Peking University Law School from 1 ...

Xu Jiatun Xu Jiatun (; 10 March 1916 – 29 June 2016) was a Chinese politician and dissident. He was the Chinese Communist Party secretary of Jiangsu Province from 1977 to 1983 and the Governor of Jiangsu from 1977 to 1979. After sympathising with the ...

* Xue Fei (host) *

Yan Jiaqi Yan Jiaqi (; born December 25, 1942) is a Chinese political scientist and dissident. Biography Yan was born on 25 December 1942 in Wujin District, Changzhou, Jiangsu, during the Chinese Civil War. In 1959, he entered the University of Science ...

* Yang Jianli * Youming Che *

Yu Jie Yu Jie (), is a Chinese-American writer and Calvinist democracy activist. The bestselling author of more than 30 books, Yu was described by the ''New York Review of Books'' in 2012 as "one of China's most prominent essayists and critics". Yu Ji ...

, dissident writer *

Zhang Boli Zhang Boli (, born 1959) is a Chinese dissident. Biography Zhang Boli was born in Wangkui County, Heilongjiang Province. He worked as a journalist after graduating from a three-year college in Heilongjiang Province. He attended a short trai ...

* Zheng Yi (writer) * Zhou Fengsuo

References

{{Reflist, 33em

External links

* hina: List of Political Prisoners Detained or Imprisoned as of November 5, 2017 (1,414 cases) http://www.cecc.gov/sites/chinacommission.house.gov/files/documents/CECC%20Pris%20List_20171105_1414.pdfbr>List of top Chinese dissidentsHuman Rights in ChinaIFEX: Monitoring Censorship in ChinaPhotos of Chinese dissidents

Chinese dissidents This list consists of activists who are known as Chinese dissidents. The label is primarily applied to intellectuals who "push the boundaries" of society or criticize the policies of the government. Examples of the former include Wei Hui and Ji ...

Detained and jailed people

Others

See also

References

External links