Yao Zhenxiang was a Shanghai dissident associated with the unofficial Association for Human Rights. Contemporary reporting states that he fled Shanghai in 1994, received political asylum in France, and returned to China before being detained in April 1996. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and a United Nations Special Rapporteur subsequently documented his detention at Dafeng and concerns about his treatment and health. A Chinese government reply transmitted through the United Nations in 1997 stated that he had been assigned three years of reeducation through labor.
Identity
Yao Zhenxiang is distinct from his brother Yao Zhenxian, who was detained during the same period.
Sources
Amnesty International, ASA 17/031/1997; Human Rights Watch, World Report 1998; United Nations Special Rapporteur, E/CN.4/1998/38/Add.1; Associated Press/Washington Post reporting from April 1996; U.S. State Department human-rights reporting.