(Midland, Texas – Sept 10, 2026) Texas-based nonprofit ChinaAid Association has opened nominations for its 2026 Lin Zhao Freedom Award, which recognizes Chinese citizens who have worked to advance civil society and the rule of law while suffering injustice and persecution. Nominations will be accepted through Nov. 9.
The award honors people who promote freedom, democracy, truth and reconciliation in contemporary China in the spirit of Lin Zhao, a Christian writer and political dissident who was imprisoned and executed after opposing political repression under Mao Zedong. ChinaAid will announce the 2026 recipient Dec. 10.
The Lin Zhao Freedom Award will be presented annually to one person, who will receive a certificate and a prize of RMB 25,000, approximately $3,700. If the recipient is unable to receive the prize in person, the prize will be given to his or her family.
The award is open to Chinese citizens in China or abroad who are working to advance China’s transition to democracy and the rule of law.
Who is Lin Zhao?
Lin Zhao (1932-1968), a Christian formerly known as Peng Lingzhao, was a native of Suzhou, a city in Jiangsu province in eastern China. She enrolled in the Chinese-language department at Peking University in 1954 and was classified as a “rightist” in 1958 during China’s Anti-Rightist Campaign.
In 1960, Lin Zhao was arrested for her involvement in the underground publication Starburst and for publishing her long poem, “A Day in the Life of the Proud Friar.” She was released on medical parole in early 1962 but arrested again in November of that year.
Lin Zhao was detained at Shanghai’s First Detention Center and Tilanqiao Prison, where she wrote letters, diaries and other writings opposing what she called the “tyrannical enslavement” of Mao Zedong and the Communist Party of China. After being denied ordinary writing materials, she wrote thousands of words in her own blood.
On April 29, 1968, Lin Zhao was sentenced to death in prison and executed by firing squad the same day. She was 36. Her writings and resistance to political repression have made her an enduring symbol of freedom of conscience and opposition to injustice.
In 1980, the Shanghai Higher People’s Court revoked the judgment of the Military Control Commission and acquitted Lin Zhao on grounds of mental illness. The Shanghai High People’s Court reviewed the case again in 1981, revoked both the 1980 ruling and the 1968 judgment, and acquitted Lin Zhao without relying on the grounds of mental illness.
ChinaAid established the Lin Zhao Freedom Award to honor her memory, carry on her legacy and inspire others to advance civil society and the rule of law in contemporary China.
Nominate a deserving individual
Nominees must meet two basic criteria:
1. have done outstanding work to advance the rule of law and civil society in contemporary China by promoting freedom and democracy, truth and reconciliation in the spirit of Lin Zhao’s advocacy of nonviolence against injustice and oppression; and
2. have suffered injustice and persecution in the process. Potential recipients include democracy activists and rule of law advocates who are experiencing serious persecution, such as imprisonment, surveillance, or house arrest.
Each nomination form is limited to one nominee, and each nominator may submit several forms to nominate several people.
ChinaAid has established a five-member Lin Zhao Freedom Award Selection Committee to review the nominations and determine the final award by a simple majority vote. The committee consists of two ChinaAid representatives and three independent members who are experts from outside mainland China and have closely followed the development of human rights and freedom in China.
ChinaAid and the Lin Zhao Freedom Award Selection Committee will maintain strict confidentiality of each nominee’s information. If a recipient or family member wishes to remain anonymous for security reasons, the award will be presented anonymously and an announcement will be made.
The results will be kept as historical information and made public with the consent of the living recipient at an appropriate time or upon the recipient’s death.
ChinaAid’s 2025 Lin Zhao Freedom Award winner was citizen journalist Zhang Zhan, who was previously honored as the award winner in 2021 for her reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. Zhang was sentenced in December 2020 to four years in prison on charges of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.”
After completing her sentence and being released in 2024, Zhang continued her activism. In September 2025, Zhang received another four-year sentence on the same charges, and by November 2025 she had disappeared from all systems. Her current whereabouts are unknown.
Nominations for the 2026 Lin Zhao Freedom Award may be submitted through the 2026 Lin Zhao Freedom Award nomination form or by email at linzhaoaward@yahoo.com.