Recently, Beijing lawyer Zhang Qingfang had his license revoked and faced suppression by the authorities, sparking attention from both inside and outside the legal community. Zhang Qingfang touched the Chinese Communist Party’s “red line” by exposing officials’ misconduct during cases. His peers acknowledge his courage and methods, recognizing the social impact he has made.
On October 21st, lawyer Zhang Qingfang announced that he had received the punishment notice from the Beijing Judicial Bureau regarding the revocation of his lawyer’s license. He posted on his WeChat moments, “I have no entanglement or attachment anymore. I have done my best for the rule of law in this era.”
Self-proclaimed as the “Grave Digging School Master,” Zhang Qingfang practices a defense strategy known as “Digging the Graves of Ancestors.” This approach involves lawyers revealing the misconduct of judges or court leaders during cases, prompting them to recuse themselves or even leading to self-surrender, ultimately safeguarding the rights of the parties involved.
The legal community believes that the root cause of the “Digging the Graves of Ancestors” approach lies in the absence of rule of law and judicial independence in China, where the judiciary is entirely controlled by the party as a political tool.
For example, in June this year, lawyer Zhang Qingfang filed a report accusing the Vice President of the Yingtang Intermediate People’s Court in Jiangxi, Liu Sailian, of academic plagiarism. This action stemmed from his unsuccessful attempt to secure defense rights for an official, dissatisfaction with legal assistance, which resulted in his defense rights not being adequately protected.
After verification by Nanjing University, it was confirmed that Liu Sailian’s master’s thesis “A Study on the Pre-trial Review Procedure in Public Prosecution Cases” contained plagiarism, constituting academic misconduct. At the time of discovery, it had been 18 years since she graduated with her master’s degree.
Zhang Qingfang expressed, “Many people say, if a student studying law dares to plagiarize in their thesis at school, how can they be expected to enforce justice impartially as judges in the future?”
Earlier, when Zhang Qingfang fought for defense rights at the Haikou Intermediate People’s Court, he was forcibly removed. He also reported the Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Committee in Neijiang, Sichuan Province, Wang Yuan, for suspected plagiarism in his 2005 thesis.
Legal expert Li Yong from mainland China, in an interview with Epoch Times, stated that the revocation of Zhang Qingfang’s lawyer’s license fully reflects the Chinese Communist Party’s ongoing repression of lawyers pursuing justice and judicial fairness, aiming to intimidate Zhang Qingfang and others in the profession, compelling them to act as propagandists for the party’s justice and prohibiting them from resisting the corruption within the communist judicial system.
Observers believe that Zhang Qingfang’s license revocation is related to a case in Anhui, where he was accused of inciting the family members of the parties involved to “disrupt” the order in the detention facility. There may also be reasons linked to a case in Hainan.
On September 20, a “Notice of Punishment” from the Beijing Judicial Bureau was leaked online, showing that Zhang Qingfang had “repeatedly interfered with case handlers and other lawyers through public rewards and online hype,” and “instigated and incited relevant personnel to supervise facilities.”
An anonymous human rights activist in Beijing informed the Epoch Times reporter that Zhang Qingfang is well-known and has been doing a lot of work in the human rights community over the years. He is regarded as a decent person, yet ultimately, his license was revoked.
“He (Zhang Qingfang) is currently heavily censored, and reposting his content will directly lead to warnings from national security guards, urging the swift deletion of any related material. I was supposed to attend a hearing, but the national security guards came and prevented me from going. Therefore, now in the foreign media, some of his original content can still be found, but domestically, all of his materials are completely censored,” he remarked.
Shandong human rights lawyer and scholar Liu Shuqing wrote that he met Zhang Qingfang in the second trial of the case of Xu Zhiyong, a prominent figure in the New Citizens’ Movement. During the first trial, Zhang Qingfang and lawyer Yang Jinzhu used a “Silent Defense” strategy, emphasizing Dr. Xu’s final statement. In the second trial, they presented a significant amount of new evidence and made multiple accusations, but to no avail, as it ultimately resorted to written review.
Zhang Qingfang is described as a professional criminal defense lawyer with a Ph.D. in criminal law from Peking University. Starting with the Hangzhou National Post Telecommunication Fraud case, he ventured beyond the comfort zone of relying on personal connections for handling cases, opting for a “confrontational” approach. Over the past year, beginning with the Neijiang case in Sichuan, he adopted a “unrestricted warfare” mode, targeting specific individuals directly with exceptional courage for “elimination.” From the case of Wu Min in Jiangxi to corruption, academic deceit, and even private conversations, he utilized these aspects as tools.
Liu Shuqing believes that the real catalyst for his strict punishment was his defense in the case of Qian Cheng in Lianshui. Qian Cheng, a businessman, was sentenced to eleven years and six months in prison for alleged embezzlement of public funds in collusion with the former general manager of a Jiangsu state-owned tobacco company. The second trial defense, led by Zhou Ze and Zhang Qingfang, exposed the disabled condition due to torture by the Disciplinary Committee, along with statements like “The Discipline Inspection Commission and Supervisory Committee are the East and West Factories of the Party.”
Shortly after the major 709 cases, Liu Shuqing’s lawyer’s license was revoked. Regarding Zhang Qingfang’s license revocation, he quoted a statement made by intern lawyer Zhang Wenpeng, who was arrested in the Hainan case, “I don’t think this is a bad thing,” emphasizing that “in life, you should measure with a broader perspective.”
Mainland lawyer Wu, in an introduction to the Epoch Times reporter, mentioned that lawyer Zhang’s represented cases encompassed official cases within the system, cases of maneuvering money and private capital under the guise of crackdowns, defending rights and qualifications, attacking individual illegal and disciplinary behavior of case handlers, mainly focusing on diploma, thesis forgery.
Wu believes that Zhang’s license revocation stems from the cases he handled in the past two years and his combative approach of “Digging the Graves” and unrestricted warfare. The direct reason lies in the public exposure and reveal of the various unsavory aspects of officials, common occurrences that tarnish the image of the Chinese Communist Party officials, which the party-state cannot tolerate. While his tenacity in fighting was generally accepted, the disclosure of officials’ misconduct crosses the party’s “red line.” This action sends a clear message to the legal profession that this method is taboo and should not be imitated. Despite the inherent risks, his persistence and the societal impact he generated over the past two years did make a substantial difference.
In conclusion, the impact of his actions has reverberated within and outside the system and challenged the judicial hierarchy. Even though he lost his license, his efforts and the values represented by his lawyer’s badge were ultimately not in vain.