Person profile: Tao Bo (陶波)
This archive preserves the documented source record behind the Tao Bo (陶波) profile: a Nantong, Jiangsu volunteer and public-interest rights advocate detained December 22, 2018 on suspicion of picking quarrels and provoking trouble, with no sentence or later whereabouts recorded. Allegations remain attributed rather than stated as fact.
Case chronology
- Years before 2018 — Tao Bo, a resident of the Nantong Economic and Technological Development Zone in Jiangsu, is described in case records as a “Jianghai volunteer” who provided breakfasts to poor households, elderly people, and sanitation workers, and who used his legal knowledge to assist disadvantaged people in defending their rights (CHRD PoC record).
- November 13, 2018 — After saying a subdistrict office had defrauded him of a large investment, he sues the Chongchuan District Market Supervision Bureau for failing to perform its statutory duties at the Nantong Development Zone Court. He later alleges the presiding judge fabricated court documents and that two people’s assessors did not participate in deliberations; he and two other litigants pursue verification through formal channels and report to police (CHRD PoC record, reporting his account).
- December 22, 2018 — Taken into criminal detention by Nantong Development Zone police on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.”
- January 21, 2019 — Development Zone procuratorate approves his arrest on the same charge; January 28, 2019 — formal arrest; held at Nantong City Detention Center.
- December 18, 2019 — CHRD enters his case record, noting no further information was available: health unknown, whether mistreated unknown, verdict pending. His parents had petitioned municipal, provincial, and central political-legal, discipline-inspection, and procuratorial bodies over his detention.
- August 31, 2026 — Rights Defense Network (维权网) monthly report Issue 131 lists 陶波 in its Jiangsu “detained without trial” roster group (position 3 of 13). Roster classification; no new case facts.
Key source records
- Chinese Human Rights Defenders — Prisoners of Conscience database, record 陶波 / “TAO BO” (record entered 2019-12-18): detailed case narrative with dates, detention facility, charge, and family-petition history. Database search page (human-rights NGO monitoring database; verified opened and read in full 2026-10-09; best source for the Person page).
- Rights Defense Network (维权网), Issue 131 monthly report (2026-08-31): roster listing of 陶波 in the Jiangsu detained-without-trial group (ZH “陶波” ↔ EN “Tao Bo” positionally verified; verified as roster record).
Limitations and contradictions
Web media searches for independent reporting on the case (2026-09-26, four ZH rounds; 2026-10-09, two targeted rounds) found no attributable media reports — recorded as evidence gap, not evidence of absence. No information after December 2019: no trial verdict, sentence, release, or current whereabouts in any source. The 2026 roster classification is not an independent update. Whether Tao Bo was released, tried, or remains detained is unknown — no inference is made. The 2018 judicial-misconduct allegations are his allegations as reported, not established facts. No consular dimension documented; no PRC official or state-media record of the case located.
Person profile: Tao Bo (陶波)