Recently in August, Sichuan rights activist Chen Yunfei, who was traveling in Jiayuguan in early August, was taken away by the police on suspicion of “obscenity” and sentenced to 12 days of administrative detention. On August 17, the expiration date of his detention, he was directly transferred to the Chengdu National Security Bureau by the detention center, on the charge of “endangering national security”.
Chen Yunfei was detained for 12 days by the public security agency of Subei County on August 5 at Dunhuang Railway Station for alleged “obscenity”. When his friend Jiang Yongji, a lawyer from Subei County, went to the detention center to pick him up on August 17, no one was released by the detention center by the late afternoon, prompting a complaint call to the Jiuquan Inspectorate. The inspectorate responded that Chen Yunfei was involved in other cases.
In early August, Chen Yunfei traveled from Chengdu to Jiayuguan to visit a friend with the surname Dou before heading to Subei County to visit his friend Jiang Yongji, a lawyer. However, he was taken away by the authorities midway and detained in the Dunhuang detention center on charges of “obscenity”.
According to Lawyer Jiang Yongji, on August 13, he met with the lawyers of Chen Yunfei’s administrative case in Jiuquan and obtained the notification letter of the administrative case. On August 14, he drove to the Subei Party City Police Station to meet with the director to inquire about Chen Yunfei’s case but was unable to meet the director due to the holiday of Subei County. Subsequently, he went to the Dunhuang detention center, and the duty police officer informed him that Chen Yunfei could be released at 3:30 pm on August 17.
According to Mr. Li, an informant, on the afternoon of August 17, Lawyer Jiang Yongji and a friend arrived at the Dunhuang detention center to pick up Chen Yunfei. The duty police officer at the detention center told them that the handling unit instructed Chen Yunfei to be picked up by the handling unit. The friend who accompanied Lawyer Jiang called the Subei Party City Police Station where the director told them that once the time was up, they would release him, and the police station would not pick up Chen Yunfei, so they should directly ask the detention center to release him. This conversation left them feeling perplexed.
Mr. Li said, “A few days later, it was finally confirmed that Chen Yunfei was taken away by the Chengdu National Security Bureau on August 17, on charges of ‘endangering national security’.”
Born on August 13, 1967, in Daxian, Dazu, Sichuan province, Chen Yunfei is a democratic “amateur animal trainer”, a Sichuan “democratic performance artist”, an individual farm owner, and agricultural expert, as well as a well-known human rights activist.
Chen Yunfei has been imprisoned twice. On March 25, 2021, while taking a walk with his mother in Xipu Town, Chengdu City, he was suddenly arrested by several policemen. He was sentenced to 4 years in prison for “provoking trouble” initially, but the charges were changed to “forced obscenity” and “obscenity against children”, and he was released on March 25, 2025. After his release, he was repeatedly summoned due to his social media posts. On August 5, 2026, he was again detained for 12 days on charges of “obscenity” and upon his release, he was taken away by the Chengdu National Security Bureau for alleged “endangering national security”.