Prominent Chinese activists sentenced to up to 5 years for 'inciting subversion'

The two men, arrested in September 2021, served two years and nine months in prison, which will be deducted from their sentence. Huang is expected to be released in September 2026, while Wang will be released in March next year.

Huang said she would appeal, according to people familiar with the matter.

“Using national security as a pretext to suppress civil society activists is a bad signal that denies the value of social justice and rejects moderate civil society voices,” said a friend of Huang and Wang.

The activists were put on trial in Guangzhou last September, when US diplomats tried to attend but were denied access.

Huang, 36, has been a journalist for more than a decade. In early 2018, she launched an investigation into a prominent professor, which led to what is considered China's first #MeToo case and attracted public attention..

Huang later focused on reporting on feminism and became a leading figure in China's #MeToo movement.

Then, in August 2019, before starting a master's program in human rights law at the University of Hong Kong, Huang was arrested by Guangzhou police for “picking quarrels and causing trouble.”

She was detained for three months, according to her friends, but was not tried.

In September 2021, she and Wang were detained again, and this time were prosecuted.

Wang, 41, has long worked for NGOs that support vulnerable groups, including defending the rights of workers with occupational diseases.

According to an indictment posted on an account created on

People at these rallies said they discussed social issues, including women's and LGBT rights. They also watched movies and played board games together.

The indictment also alleged that Huang “propagated the ideology of subversion of state power” by publishing articles online starting in 2019.

It also said Huang provided online training that “used major events and social movements at home and abroad to incite participants to stir up discontent with state power.”.

Li was accused of helping her partner Xu Zhiyong, who is serving a 14-year prison sentence for subversion, to publish a large number of “subversive articles” online.