Sixteen years ago, Chinese dissident Wang Yifei and five others secretly formed the “Chinese Democratic Victory Party.” Despite ceasing activities for many years, they were recently brought to justice in 2024, sparking public concern. According to sources, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aimed to intimidate anti-Communist forces by revisiting this old case, but no one was scared off.
Wang Yifei, a native of Hekou County in Hunan Province, known by the online alias “Yifei Shangtian”, was a key member of the Chinese Democratic Victory Party. In April 2024, he was sentenced to 7 years and 6 months in prison for “subverting state power” by the Leshan Intermediate People’s Court. Other individuals sentenced in the same case were Tang Gaofeng for 12 years, Wang Wei for 8 years, Zhou Dan for 6 years, Liu Zhengang for 5 years and 6 months, and Dai Lu for 3 years. In December of the same year, the Sichuan Provincial High Court upheld the original verdict.
An informant named Wang Sheng revealed to Epoch Times that Wang Yifei and others formed the party in 2008, which was called the Chinese Democratic Victory Party, and ceased activities around 2015. Wang Yifei had stopped participating since 2014. Due to their activism, the government had been monitoring them.
Years later, the case resurfaced, indicating that the CCP aimed to intimidate other anti-Communist forces in society. Wang Sheng stated that in 2022, a member of the party who returned from overseas was detained and confessed everything. “Even though these individuals are no longer active, the CCP reopening this case aims to make an example,” he explained.
In addition to founding the party, Wang Yifei, along with others like Zeng Guofan, established the “Xinghua Society,” advocating for Chinese citizens to form civil circles and engage in enlightening actions. They faced harsh suppression for spreading slogans like “Rehabilitate the 1989 Tiananmen Square Protests, End One-Party Rule” and “May the spirits of June 4th rest in eternal peace” in various places. In April 2019, Wang Yifei was sentenced to 2 years for “provocation and causing disturbances” by the Nanchang Court in Jiangxi Province.
Wang Sheng mentioned that Wang Yifei has always kept a low profile, enjoys traveling, and paints slogans wherever he goes. “He has posted many, many slogans nationwide, continuously and at great expense without stopping,” Wang Sheng added.
Upon release in 2020 after serving his sentence, Wang Yifei resumed writing critical articles, only to be arrested again in 2022.
Wang Sheng revealed that at 40 years old this year, Wang Yifei has been active for the past 20 years continuously. He used to write articles exposing persecution inside prisons.
After Wang Yifei’s arrest, Wang Sheng and his friends attempted to visit Wang Yifei’s hometown to see his parents under strict police surveillance but faced multiple obstacles. “When our friends went to his house, many people without uniforms were waiting to block them. His family had been relocated by the police and was not living there anymore.”
Wang Sheng highlighted that the Wang Yifei case is among the most severe in recent years of the CCP’s repression of anti-Communist forces in society. Despite this, civil society has not remained silent, with various protests continuing to emerge across the country. He called on the international community to focus on the health and safety of political prisoners and urged the CCP to enhance the judicial transparency of sensitive cases.