(Jiangsu — July 24, 2025) Jiangsu human rights defender Xu Qin, who completed a four-year prison sentence on July 11, remains under tight surveillance at her residence. Xu Qin has stated that she refuses to yield to such harassment.
According to sources, Xu Qin currently lives in her own home but faces heavy restrictions on her freedom of speech. She is followed and photographed whenever she goes out, and individuals frequently enter her home disguised as checking for water leaks, harassing her inside her own home.
Authorities have forced Xu Qin to sign various agreements, including bans on giving interviews to foreign media and a five-year “reintegration into the community” (Bangjiao) requirement.
Xu Qin, the former secretary-general of the Chinese civil rights group “Human Rights Watch in China,” had long spoken out for the families of “709” detained lawyers, dissidents, and petitioners. On January 31, 2018, she was taken into custody by police and criminally detained on suspicion of the so-called “inciting subversion of state power.” She was released on bail on August 31. In November 2021, shortly after undergoing heart bypass surgery, Xu Qin was again taken from her home by police and held at the Yangzhou Detention Center. She was later
formally arrested and indicted by the Yangzhou Intermediate People’s Court on charges of “inciting subversion of state power.”
While imprisoned, she endured brutal extortion of confession under torture and degrading treatment.
Despite her imprisonment, Ms. Xu Qin’s struggle was not forgotten. On International Human Rights Day in 2022, ChinaAid presented Xu Qin with the annual “Lin Zhao Freedom Award” in recognition of her sacrifices and contributions to the cause of human rights in China.
Ms. Xu Qin’s suffering is far from being an isolated case. Across China, many dissidents, rights lawyers, and religious figures face similar long-term surveillance and restrictions on freedom even after completing their sentences. Their human rights are gravely violated, with their ability to participate in everyday social life and express themselves stripped away, leaving them to live in an invisible cage. Xu Qin’s release marks the end of her four-year wrongful imprisonment. However, her ongoing suffering will continue to draw international attention to the plight of human rights defenders in China.
(Reported by Special Correspondent Gao Zhensai of ChinaAid)