Classification: Physician from Nanjing, Jiangsu; sentenced to 13 years for subversion of state power in December 2018; reported in custody as of August 2026.
Background
Kong Wentao (孔文涛), born in 1966, is from Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. He graduated from Nanjing Medical University in 1986 and worked for more than two decades in clinical gastroenterology, rising to associate chief physician, then chief physician and head of the endoscopy department at Gaochun People’s Hospital in Nanjing, where he also served as director of the gastroenterology department. He was known as a supporter of democratic constitutionalism in China.
Arrest, trial, and sentencing
In early April 2018, Kong was taken into custody by Nanjing police on suspicion of subversion of state power after making pro-democracy remarks in a WeChat group, and he lost contact with the outside world. In December 2018, his case was tried in a Nanjing court and he was sentenced at first instance to 13 years’ imprisonment for subversion of state power, with the term running to April 2031. According to the published case profile, he pleaded guilty in court and said he would not appeal. No publicly available court judgment has been located; the sentencing details rest on rights-media and NGO records, reported as such.
Current status
The published case profile records him as serving his sentence in Ward 9 of Nanjing Prison. The Rights Defense Network’s monthly in-custody report for August 2026 lists Kong Wentao among the eleven prisoners it records as sentenced to 13 years, consistent with him still serving. No release, death, or exile has been reported.
Note on a caption variant: two image captions on the China Political Prisoner Concern case page read “孫文涛” (Sun Wentao), an apparent caption typo; the article title and all body text consistently read 孔文涛.
Sources: 中國政治犯關注 (China Political Prisoner Concern), case profile no. 00708, January 26, 2019; Chinese Human Rights Defenders, Prisoners of Conscience database record 孔文涛 / “KONG WENTAO”; Rights Defense Network (维权网), Issue 131 monthly in-custody report, August 31, 2026.
Media profile & archive: Media archive for Kong Wentao (孔文涛)