Classification: Volunteer and public-interest rights advocate from Nantong, Jiangsu; detained December 2018 on suspicion of picking quarrels and provoking trouble; no sentence or later whereabouts recorded — status unknown.
Background
Tao Bo (陶波) is a volunteer and public-interest rights advocate from Nantong, Jiangsu Province. According to a case record in the Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) Prisoners of Conscience database, he is a resident of the Nantong Economic and Technological Development Zone who became known locally as a “Jianghai volunteer” for years of community service — including providing breakfasts to poor households, elderly people living alone, and sanitation workers — and for using his knowledge of the law to help disadvantaged people defend their rights.
The case that led to his detention
In 2018, Tao Bo sued the Chongchuan District Market Supervision Bureau of Nantong for what he alleged was a failure to perform its statutory duties, after he said officials at a local subdistrict office had defrauded him out of a large investment. When the case proceeded at the Nantong Development Zone Court, he concluded that the presiding judge had fabricated court documents and that two people’s assessors named in the panel had not actually participated in deliberations. Together with two other litigants, he sought to verify the assessors’ attendance through formal channels and reported the matter to the police.
On December 22, 2018, police in the Nantong Development Zone took Tao Bo into criminal detention on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” (寻衅滋事罪). The Development Zone procuratorate approved his arrest on the same charge on January 21, 2019, and he was formally arrested on January 28, 2019. He was held at the Nantong City Detention Center.
Where things stand
The CHRD record, entered on December 18, 2019, states that no further information was available at that time — his health and whether he had been mistreated were unknown, and his case was still awaiting a verdict. No sentence, release, or later information has been located in any source reviewed. A 2026 monthly report by the Rights Defense Network (维权网) lists Tao Bo among people in its “detained without trial” roster group for Jiangsu, but that is a roster classification dated August 31, 2026, not an independently verified update on his whereabouts. Whether Tao Bo was released, tried, or remains detained is unknown.
Note: the account of the 2018 lawsuit and the allegations against the court above come from the CHRD case record, which reports Tao Bo’s own claims and his family’s account. They are presented as reported, not as independently established findings.
Note on namesakes: 陶永红 (Tao Yonghong, Guangdong Maoming case) and 陶雷 (Tao Lei, Wuhan case) are different people and are not merged here.
Sources: Chinese Human Rights Defenders, Prisoners of Conscience database record 陶波 / “TAO BO” (entered 2019-12-18); Rights Defense Network (维权网), Issue 131 monthly prisoner report, August 31, 2026.
Media profile & archive: Media archive for Tao Bo (陶波)