Jiangsu human rights activist Tao Hong, who has been missing for nearly three years, recently released a video explaining her situation. She was under residential surveillance for 2 years and 8 months, and on April 28th, the procuratorate announced that the case of picking quarrels and provoking trouble against her was not prosecuted. However, she did not gain her freedom as authorities intensified their monitoring of her.
In the video, Tao Hong recounted that on September 9, 2022, she was forcibly abducted back to Beijing by local public security officers, and endured being held in a dark room of a guesthouse, detained for one month, under residential surveillance for 6 months, on bail pending trial by the public security bureau for one year, and on bail pending trial by the procuratorate for another year, totaling 2 years and 8 months.
During her confinement, Tao Hong was held in a harsh environment without access to television or communication tools. There were makeshift iron rooms constructed outside, with dozens of auxiliary police, security guards, and street workers stationed at the entrance, rotating shifts of 4 to 5 people every 24 hours. She was prohibited from leaving, interacting with outsiders, and the suffering was beyond words.
On April 28, 2025, when the one-year bail period by the procuratorate expired, the procurator came to where Tao Hong was trapped. Due to insufficient evidence for the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble, a decision of non-prosecution was announced. However, Tao Hong still did not regain her freedom. Instead, they increased the number of guards outside and did not return the mobile phone and other items confiscated from her over the 2 years and 8 months.
Feeling helpless, Tao Hong reached out to seek help from the public and urged the people to exercise their rights as the ones who empower the public authorities. She called for supervision of how our civil servants use the power granted by the people to deal with citizens, preventing law-abiding citizens from seeking help and falling into distress.
Tao Hong pleaded for everyone to pay attention and to prevent her from being kidnapped, disappearing, illegally detained, or even threatened with psychiatric care or disappearance. She hoped that under the scrutiny and attention of the public, she could uphold her legitimate rights in a fair and just legal environment.
Jiangsu human rights activist “Benbo” expressed frustration at Tao Hong’s plight, describing how Suzhou Zhangjiagang public security had turned Tao Hong’s own home into a black prison.
Another human rights activist from Jiangsu, Ms. Meng, when speaking to a reporter from Dajiyuan, said, “I have met Tao Hong a few times, and her ordeal can only be described as ‘dark,’ extremely dark! Human rights activism cannot be too idealistic because in (China), the law is merely written on paper. What’s written in textbooks during our school days differs from reality, which is harsh and cruel.”
She added, “Human rights activism is too difficult! Watching them go through such hardships pains me, but I am powerless! Faced with such challenges, one can only raise their voice and rely on self-media and media attention!”
Having just been released from a three-year imprisonment, human rights activist Shen Aibin from Wuxi, who is still recovering physically, also publicly appealed to fellow activists to provide assistance to Tao Hong after learning about her situation.
Tao Hong, a resident of Fanzhuang Village, Yangshe Town, Zhangjiagang City, Jiangsu Province, was involved in land requisition issues when the town demolition office and village officials coaxed villagers into signing blank agreements for illegal demolition in 2010. Over two hundred households were relocated to makeshift houses made of foam core panels, living in extremely poor conditions. To this day, the villagers have not been properly resettled, and compensation has not been paid in full.
As a result, Tao Hong’s persistent petitions led to her illegal detention, her ID information being marked as a “criminal suspect,” preventing her from traveling normally.
On September 8, 2022, while Tao Hong was posting a letter in Beijing, the Beijing police checked her ID and took her to the police station, where she was handed over to the Beijing Office. She was then sent to a black prison. The next day, she reported to the police again, was taken by another police station, and finally handed over to the Beijing Office, where she has been detained in the black prison ever since.