The Chinese Communist authorities regard social media platforms as an important part of their stability maintenance system, continuously tightening control over online space. In recent years, the filtering and blocking of so-called sensitive words have reached a daunting level. Recently, Chinese human rights activist Xu Qin had her WeChat account blocked for sharing a music video titled “The Roses Bloom Again”.
Xu Qin, from Gaoyou County, Jiangsu Province, was a member of the “Rose Team” and has long been dedicated to human rights issues in China, advocating for 709 lawyers and their families, dissidents, and petitioners. On February 9, 2018, Xu Qin was first detained and later falsely sentenced to 4 years for “inciting subversion of state power”, before being released from prison on July 11, 2025.
A source known as Guo Qiang (alias) told The Epoch Times that after Xu Qin’s release, she has been closely monitored by authorities, with her speech and external communications being strictly restricted.
Recently, Xu Qin has filed a lawsuit regarding her imprisonment and the demand to return the pension she received during her time in prison. At the same time, her WeChat account has also been restricted.
Guo Qiang mentioned that Xu Qin tried to seek opinions from lawyers by sending them documents through WeChat, but even though it showed as sent, the recipients did not receive them. “It’s ridiculous, the WeChat platform claims it’s suspected of fraud, and the chat function has been restricted.”
Xu Qin spent a long time going through verification to have her WeChat account unblocked, but it was blocked again after a few days. Guo Qiang speculated that this incident may be related to the song “The Roses Bloom Again”. “It’s probably because of selecting ‘The Roses Bloom Again’. You can’t write about roses, you can’t talk about roses. All were songs found online, even the pictures too, isn’t it absurd?”
Guo Qiang further revealed that after Xu Qin’s release, authorities have people tracking her 24 hours a day and guarding her residence, following her wherever she goes. Xu Qin has said that in prison, she went on hunger strikes three times to fight for her rights and was eventually allowed to send letters to her lawyer. But now, she has transitioned from a small prison to a larger one, unable to freely meet people or have communication freedom.
Dissident Jia Hua (alias) also stated that some of the short pieces she often writes on WeChat have been blocked and cannot be published. “Police came to my door demanding that we not make any noise, but I directly refused. I write a lot, but I can’t publish it online.”
Jia Hua expressed that although resistance under suppression is challenging, they are all persevering. The Chinese people should stand up as soon as possible to bring about the collapse of the CCP. “Ultimately, China’s problems need to be solved by the Chinese people themselves. If you don’t want to change, no matter how much the outside changes, it won’t make a difference.”