Huang Jinqiu

D.o.b: 3 September 1974

Profession: Internet essayist, writer and journalist

Date of arrest: 13 September 2003

Sentence: 12 years in prison, reduced by one year and ten months in November 2007

Expires: 12 November 2013

Details of arrest: Huang Jinqiu was arrested on 13 September 2003, shortly after his return from spending three years overseas studying journalism on a scholarship at the Central Academy of Art in Malaysia. During his time abroad, he published essays on the Chinese-language news website Boxun under the pen name Qing Shuijun, becoming increasingly famous for his work. He continued to write and post on Boxum after his return to China; in these articles, he claimed that during his travels through China, the secret police started following him from 15 August 2003, in the Yunan Province, in Sichuan and through to Shanghai. He visited his parents in early September 2003, and published the last article since his arrest, entitled 'Me and My Public Security Friends.' He was arrested shortly thereafter, in Lianyungang, Kiangsu Province, but his parents were only informed of his detention in January 2004.

Trial details: Huang's trial began on 22 June 2004 at the Changzhou Intermediate People's Court on charges of subversion. It is reported that the court was initially unable to reach a verdict due to lack of evidence, but after the case was refered back to the prosecution, additional evidence was provided and he was sentenced to 12 years in prison on 27 September 2004, convicted of 'organising, planning and performing subversion of State power by publishing a large number of reactionary articles on the Internet in his capacity as member of the preparatory committee of the China Patriotic Democratic Party.'

Professional details: Huang Jinqiu trained at the Lu Xun Literature Institute, a leading writing school. He published his first book at the age of 20, and worked as a journalist and editor of several newspapers and magazines after the age of 18, including the Guanzhou daily Yangcheng Wanbao. His essays have been collected into two publications, one that is non-political and published under his real name, and one collection of political commentaries published under his pen name for security reasons.

Place of detention: Pukou Prison, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province.

Other information: In early 2001, the Chinese authorities allegedly visited his parents to warn them of their 'concerns' about him because of articles he was publishing overseas. He attracted further attention by later announcing on the Boxum website that he was founding a political party, the China Patriot Democracy Party. Although his announcement is said to have attracted a lot of interest, it is not thought that the CPDP was ever organised in practice.

Recently, Huang Jinqiu's father sent word of his improvement. Apparently, he now edits the prison newsletter and has been permitted to listen to the radio. His sentence was recently reduced by one year and ten months.

Honorary Member: German PEN, American PEN, English PEN and Independent Chinese PEN.