China’s #MeToo journalist jailed for 5 years

ISTANBUL

A Chinese journalist known for promoting the feminist #MeToo movement in the country was sentenced to up to five years on Friday, her support group said.

Reporters Without Borders, an advocacy group for the global journalist community, called for the immediate release of Huang Xueqin.

The verdict at Guangzhou Intermediate Court in southern Guangdong province came after Huang had been detained for 1,000 days.

She is set to appeal the verdict, which charged her with “inciting subversion of state power.”

Alongside Huang, the court also sentenced her partner and labor activist Wang Jianbing to 3 1/2 years.

The duo was arrested in September 2021 in Guangzhou.

Huang was readying for a study trip to the UK when she was arrested.

The trial was held behind closed doors last September, but the verdict was announced today. There are allegations that Huang was also subjected to torture.

The Free Huang Xueqin & Wang Jianbing advocacy group said the court where the duo was sentenced was “heavily secured with barriers” on Friday.

“Numerous cops are stationed inside, while undercover cops in white and ‘volunteers’ in red vests fill the outside area. Reporters and visitors are blocked from entering,” it said before the verdict was announced.

Huang is reported to have initiated China’s first #MeToo case at one of the country’s most prestigious universities in Beijing.

She also had built a social media platform for reporting on sexual harassment.

Authorities detained her in 2019 during anti-government demonstrations in Hong Kong.

She was accused of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.”

Huang covered social issues on her personal blog since 2018 and previously worked as an investigative reporter for Chinese-language outlets Xinquaibao and Southern Metropolis Weekly.