Two Chinese #MeToo movement promoters handed 3 to 5 years prison sentence

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.

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.

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