In a recent article reported by overseas Chinese writer Sheng Xue, Yuan Fengchu, a dissident from Chibi, Hubei, who was imprisoned for seven years for participating in democracy and human rights movements, continues to face harassment from the Chinese Communist authorities even after his release from prison, leading to consecutive job losses. Yuan recently shared his experiences in an article, condemning the Chinese Communist Party for pushing people to the brink, but asserting that he will not surrender.
According to the article shared by Sheng Xue, Yuan Fengchu recounted on December 10, 2024, that he had spent seven years in prison due to his activism, and was released in October 2020. In the two years following his release, he was under strict surveillance by local authorities, severely restricting his freedom of movement, especially on sensitive dates where every move and action was monitored.
Yuan mentioned that despite trying to make a living in the past two years, he has kept a low profile. However, the political and legal system in Hubei has not relaxed its surveillance on him. Authorities have utilized his relatives and friends back home to manipulate him, while in other provinces, they have used his acquaintances and informants to gather information about him, with Yuan stating that his every move is within their grasp.
“Despite more than four years since my release, I have never accepted their charity no matter how destitute I am. Even in work, I know well not to bite the hand that feeds me, to uphold integrity and stand firm in my beliefs, especially when facing those who have harmed and targeted me in the past, I will never compromise, never forgive,” he wrote.
In May, Yuan’s company in Guangdong went bankrupt, coinciding with his illness, which led him to seek treatment in Dongguan for several months before returning to his hometown in late November. After a few days there, he came back to Guangdong at the beginning of this month to seek opportunities to support his family.
“Who would have thought that within a week, the national security officers from Xianing, Hubei, instructed the Dongguan national security to terminate two of my jobs. I also have a family to support, they are pushing me to a dead end,” he said.
Yuan did not mention how the Xianing national security from Hubei instructed the Dongguan national security to make him lose two jobs. However, in early 2023, while working at Asus Computer Company in Suzhou, Yuan had told Da Ji Yuan that ahead of a sensitive political event, Hubei national security had located his workplace through Suzhou national security, pressuring the company to dismiss him for not cooperating with stability maintenance work.
In his closing remarks, Yuan stated, “Such despicable tactics will not make me surrender but only fuel my resentment. It is said that the trend of the world is vast and unstoppable, those who follow thrive, those who resist perish, throughout history, as seen in the French Revolution, the Xinhai Revolution at the end of the Qing dynasty, the Carnation Revolution after World War II, the Arab Spring in 2010, and this year’s revolutions in Bangladesh and Syria. I firmly believe that as long as we continue forward, unwavering in the face of adversity, light will eventually shine.”
Yuan Fengchu, originally named Yuan Bing, uses the pseudonym Yuan Fengchu and hails from Chibi, Hubei. He introduced himself on social media as a follower of the Three Principles of the People, expressing his determination to participate in democracy and human rights movements upon witnessing political corruption and societal darkness.
Yuan Fengchu is a significant participant in China’s street democracy activities and is known as one of the “Five Gentlemen of Chibi.” On May 25, 2013, Yuan Xiaohua, Yuan Fengchu, along with Huang Wenxun, Chen Jianxiong, Li Yinli, and others participated in the “Travels in China to Realize the Bright China Dream” campaign and were summoned and taken away by the local police in Chibi City, Hubei. On June 19 of the same year, they were criminally detained on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power” and formally arrested on July 17. By the end of August 2013, the Chibi police changed the charges against Yuan Fengchu, Yuan Xiaohua, and Huang Wenxun to “disturbing public order by gathering crowds” and “provoking trouble,” sentencing them to four years in prison. They were released on May 17, 2017.
After his release in 2017, Yuan Fengchu, due to repeated harassment and surveillance by the local stability maintenance department, clashed with the relevant authorities. Just four months after his release, he was imprisoned again for three years and subjected to even harsher persecution. Yuan disclosed that during his second imprisonment, he was publicly criticized and abused, with his hands and feet bound, hung on an iron bed frame at night, forced to labor under severe injuries, and punished with solitary confinement and slaps from prison guards. Following his second release, he was subjected to constant phone harassment and plainclothes surveillance by the local stability maintenance department, significantly affecting his daily life.