Liu Ping
Chinese court hands down harsh jail sentences to New Citizen Movement activists
Liu Ping's Christmas in Jail
In order to defend my lawful labour rights, I have been forced from being an obedient, CCTV-watching subject, to being a petitioner. In the pursuit of justice, I have been transformed into a citizen.
Liu Ping is a former independent election candidate to the National People's Congress who in recent years has been active in various areas of human rights defence. In late 2012 she began pushing for Communist Party officials to make public their assets in an effort to battle corruption and promote transparency.
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.
