Teng Biao () is a

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

activist and lawyer in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Teng is a lecturer at the

China University of Political Science and Law China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 中国政法大学; Traditional Chinese characters, traditional Chinese: 中國政法大學; pinyin: ''Zhōngguó Zhèngfǎ Dàxué'', abbr. � ...

in Beijing. He has been a vocal supporter of human rights activists such as

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 ...

and Hu Jia. He has been arrested at least twice, in March 2008 and in February 2011. He was also a visiting scholar at

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

from (2015-16) and at the

Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public research university in Ma Liu Shui, Hong Kong, formally established in 1963 by a charter granted by the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. It is the territory's second-oldest university an ...

Human rights activities in China

Teng is one of the founders of the

Open Constitution Initiative The Open Constitution Initiative (OCI) (), sometimes referred to in English as Gongmeng, was an organization consisting of lawyers and academics in the People's Republic of China that advocated for the rule of law and greater constitutional prot ...

in 2003. He is also one of the 25 leading figures on the Information and Democracy Commission launched by

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...

. In 2006, he was counsel for the blind civil rights activist

, who was sentenced to four years and three months in prison.

Arrests

On 7 March 2008, Teng was arrested by the Beijing Public Security Bureau and detained for two days.Buckley, C. 2008
'China frees rights lawyer, may try dissident'
''The Guardian'', 8 March. Retrieved on 9 March 2008. In 2011, Teng met with other lawyers on 16 February to talk about the case of Chen Guangcheng, who was placed under house arrest after his release from prison. His fellow lawyers Jiang Tianyong and

Tang Jitian Tang Jitian () is a human rights lawyer in the People's Republic of China. Based in Beijing, he is a prominent figure in the Weiquan (rights defending) movement, and has defended victims of illegal land requisitions, Falun Gong adherents, HIV/AI ...

, who attended the meeting, were arrested soon after.Amnesty International, Urgent Action 02/28/2011
'Three human rights lawyers detained in China'
/ref> Teng was arrested on 20 February, the first Sunday of the

2011 Chinese pro-democracy protests The 2011 Chinese pro-democracy protests, also known as the Greater Chinese Democratic Colour revolution, Jasmine Revolution, refer to public assemblies in over a dozen cities in China starting on 20 February 2011, inspired by and named after th ...

that were inspired by the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in T ...

. On 28 February 2011,

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

launched an " urgent action" in support of the three detained lawyers. Teng was released on 29 April, after more than two months of detention.''New York Times'', April 29, 2011
'China Releases Detained Activist'
/ref> Human rights organisations state that "He remains under surveillance".Amnesty International, May 9, 2011
'Urgent action (good news): Chinese human rights lawyer Teng Biao, released'

Work in the United States

Academia

Teng is a scholar at

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...

Harassment

From 2017 to 2018, Teng suffered a series of personal attacks from Chinese businessman

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 ...

. Teng wrote an article afterwards to refute the related slander and rumors, and commented on the performance and impact of the "Guo Wengui incident". In December 2020, a group of Chinese protestors picketed Teng's home in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, accusing him of conspiring with the Chinese government. Teng and other dissidents said the protests were organized by Guo Wengui, whom they have previously publicly criticized.

Awards

*Religious Freedom and Rule of Law Defender Award (2012) * Prize for Outstanding Democracy Activist (2011) * Human Rights Watch Hellman/Hammett Grants (2010) * NED Democracy Award (2008) * Human Rights Prize of French Republic (2007)

References

External links

Teng Biao Twitter account
{{DEFAULTSORT:Teng, Biao 20th-century Chinese lawyers 21st-century Chinese lawyers Chinese activists Chinese dissidents Chinese democracy activists Living people Weiquan movement 1973 births Academic staff of China University of Political Science and Law