Yang Xiaoming (杨小明)
Political prisoner — reported in custody. Yang Xiaoming, a blind Falun Gong practitioner from Kunming, Yunnan Province, was sentenced to seven years in prison on March 14, 2023. In late March 2026 she vanished from her home, and friends believe she was taken into custody to serve the remainder of her sentence. She appears in the August 2026 in-custody political-prisoner list in the 7-year-sentence group.
Key facts
- Status: Reported in custody as of August 31, 2026 (latest dated source); friends reported her taken from her home in late March 2026.
- Sentence: 7 years plus a fine, imposed March 14, 2023.
- Place: Kunming, Yunnan Province.
- Background: Female; born 1969; began practicing Falun Gong in 1995; blind since late 2012 as a result of beatings in custody.
- Case timeline: May 28, 2022: detained (detention center refused her on health grounds; released on bail). November 16, 2022: detained again. December 2022: indicted to the Xishan District Court. February 1, 2023: trial. March 14, 2023: 7-year sentence. Late March 2026: disappeared from home.
Background
Born in 1969, Yang began practicing Falun Gong in 1995. After the 1999 crackdown she was repeatedly targeted for refusing to renounce her faith. Over the following decades she was twice sent to forced-labor camps for a total of five years, where she was tortured; beatings left her completely blind by the end of 2012. She was dismissed from her job, subjected to a forced abortion, and divorced, according to the case record.
The 2022–2023 case
On May 28, 2022, police from the Zongshuying police station in Kunming’s Xishan District entered Yang’s home without showing identification, detained her, and searched the residence. She was taken to a hospital for a medical examination; the detention center refused to admit her on health grounds, and she was released on bail the next day. On November 16, 2022, she was detained at home again, taken for a medical check, and interrogated at the Xishan District procuratorate. In December 2022 the procuratorate indicted her to the Xishan District Court. On February 1, 2023, police brought her to the court, where she was tried that afternoon. On March 14, 2023, the court sentenced her to seven years in prison with a heavy fine. Because of her health, she remained at home rather than entering custody.
2026 disappearance
In late March 2026, friends visiting Yang’s home found the door open, a chair fallen, and objects scattered — signs, they said, of a sudden coercive removal. For a blind woman, the scene was alarming. Given her outstanding sentence, friends believe she was forcibly taken to serve the remainder of her term, which would run to approximately 2033. The August 2026 in-custody prisoner list records her in the 7-year-sentence group, consistent with that account. No official statement about the March 2026 removal has been located.
Sources
- Bitter Winter, “Yunnan: Blind Falun Gong Practitioner Sentenced and ‘Disappeared’,” April 2026 (by Yang Feng) — bitterwinter.org/yunnan-blind-falun-gong-practitioner-sentenced-and-disappeared/
- World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG), “追查云南省昆明市迫害法轮功学员杨小明的责任人的通告” (Notice on investigating those responsible for persecuting Falun Gong practitioner Yang Xiaoming in Kunming, Yunnan), March 8, 2023 — zhuichaguoji.org (PDF)
- 维权网 (Rights Defense Network), Issue 131 monthly report on in-custody political prisoners (August 31, 2026) — 7-year-sentence group; EN/Chinese editions.
Media coverage and source archive
See the media profile and archive for Yang Xiaoming for the full source chronology and verification record.