Chinese #MeToo advocate journalist gets 5-year prison sentence

Hong Kong, June 14 : In China, a country where the ruling Communist Party is intensifying its efforts to dismantle civil society, a prominent #MeToo journalist has been handed a five-year prison sentence on charges of subversion, her supporters revealed, CNN reported.
Huang Xueqin, a respected independent journalist, was declared guilty by the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court on Friday for "inciting subversion of state power," as relayed by her advocates.
Her colleague, labour activist Wang Jianbin, was also sentenced, receiving a term of three and a half years, according to supporters who disclosed a copy of the verdict.
Despite the judgment, Huang has expressed her intent to appeal, as conveyed by her supporters, while Wang's decision regarding an appeal remains undisclosed.
Both Huang, aged 36, and Wang, aged 40, have endured nearly three years of incarceration within China's opaque judicial system. Their ordeal began in September 2021 when they were detained by authorities in Guangzhou, culminating in a closed-door trial in September the following year, as reported by CNN.
Huang, previously an investigative reporter for liberal-leaning media outlets in Guangzhou before transitioning into an independent journalist, played a pivotal role in catalyzing China's #MeToo movement.
In 2018, she played a central role in the country's inaugural #MeToo case, leveraging her influential social media presence to amplify the voice of a graduate student who accused her PhD supervisor of unwelcome sexual advances.
Moreover, Huang courageously shared her own encounters with sexual harassment during her tenure as a young intern at a national news agency, recounting instances where she was groped and kissed by a senior male reporter and mentor.
In an effort to underscore the widespread prevalence of such misconduct, she conducted a survey in 2018 among 416 female journalists, revealing that a staggering 84% of them had encountered sexual harassment in the workplace.
Reflecting on the pervasive silence surrounding such offences, Huang remarked in a 2018 interview with CNN, "There are so few people prosecuted because there are only so few victims who report. To most victims, it's shame."
The plight of Huang and Wang began just a day before Huang was set to depart for the United Kingdom to commence her master's degree on gender violence and conflict at the University of Sussex.
In a statement issued on Friday, Amnesty International decried the convictions, noting they coincided with the 1,000th day since their initial arrest. The organisation condemned the verdict, labelling it as a manifestation of the Chinese government's fear of emerging activists who dare to advocate for the rights of others.
In China, where the judiciary is tightly controlled by the Communist Party and boasts a conviction rate exceeding 99.9 per cent, authorities have remained tight-lipped regarding the specific charges leveled against Huang and Wang, according to the CNN report.
Nonetheless, supporters speculate that their arrest may be linked to weekly gatherings hosted at Wang's residence. In the aftermath of their detention, over 70 friends and allies of Huang and Wang were summoned by police for interrogation.
Some were allegedly coerced into signing fabricated testimonies implicating the duo in organising political assemblies to criticise the government, according to their supporters.
Describing the gatherings as a forum for discussing public affairs spanning feminism, LGBTQ rights, labour issues, and environmental conservation, a close confidante of Huang lamented the dissolution of their community in the wake of the crackdown.
The friend disclosed to CNN last year, ahead of the closed-door trial, that Huang had experienced significant deterioration in health during her detention, suffering from weight loss and cessation of menstruation for several months. Persistent back pain compounded her ordeal.
"The crackdown by authorities turned us into isolated atoms - it is difficult for everyone to band together again. The entire community is suppressed and silenced," the friend remarked, encapsulating the profound impact of state repression on dissenting voices in China, CNN reported.