Supporters say a Chinese journalist Huang Xueqin who promoted women’s rights as part of the country’s nascent #MeToo movement has been sentenced to five years in prison on charges of incitement to subvert state authority.

Huang’s sentencing comes almost three years after she and an activist Wang Jianbing were detained.

Jianbing, a co-defendant known more for his labour rights activity also helped women report sexual harassment and was sentenced to three years and six months on the same charge.

Huang Xueqin would also face a fine of 100,000 yuan (€13,000), underscoring the ruling Communist Party’s lack of tolerance for activism not under its control in a system where top positions are predominantly held by men.

China’s #MeToo movement flourished briefly before being snuffed out by the government.

China frequently silences activists by subjecting them to prolonged periods of isolation without communication before subsequently sentencing them to prison.

Huang and Wang’s cases appear to have become intertwined as part of the most recent wave of a general crackdown on rights advocates, a trend that predates the #MeToo movement and includes previous incidents such as the 2015 detentions of women distributing pamphlets against sexual harassment on public transport.

Huang Xueqin helped spark China’s first #MeToo case

Working as a freelance journalist, Huang helped spark China’s first #MeToo case in 2018 when she publicised allegations of sexual harassment made by a graduate student against her Ph.D. supervisor at one of China’s most prestigious universities.

Friends say that Huang and Wang disappeared on 19 September 2021, a day before Huang was scheduled to fly to the United Kingdom to start a master’s degree program on gender violence and conflict at the University of Sussex.

They went on trial in September 2023.

The International Women’s Media Foundation earlier gave Huang its Wallis Annenberg Justice for Women Journalists Award.

Supporters of Huang and Wang created a GitHub webpage to post case updates and share their thoughts.

Rights groups condemn the sentencing

Amnesty International’s China Director Sarah Brooks issued a statement condemning Huang’s conviction as an attack on women’s advocacy in the People’s Republic of China, which has long promoted the concept that “women hold up half the sky,” but whose institutions remain dominated by men.

“These convictions will prolong their deeply unjust detention and have a further chilling effect on human rights and social advocacy in a country where activists face increasing state crackdowns,” Brooks said in an emailed statement.

“In reality, they have committed no actual crime. Instead, the Chinese government has fabricated excuses to deem their work a threat, and to target them for educating themselves and others about social justice issues such as women’s dignity and workers’ rights,” Brooks said.

Huang’s release date was listed as 18 September 2026, accounting for her earlier detention.

China is routinely listed by monitoring groups as among the top imprisoning nations of journalists.

Euronews