Wang Zhan (王展)

Wang Zhan (王展) is a scholar of meteorology and ecology who has been detained in China without trial since October 2019 over his online advocacy of Manchuria independence.

Born in Wafangdian, Dalian, Liaoning Province, Wang studied biology at Nanjing University before earning a master’s degree in ecology from the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2010. He received a PhD in meteorology from Monash University in Australia in 2016, then held postdoctoral positions at Yonsei University in South Korea and at the Finnish Meteorological Institute in Finland, where he worked as a researcher.

Writing online under the name “远古邪恶大象” (Ancient Evil Elephant), Wang published essays, articles and poetry expressing support for Manchuria independence. On October 15, 2019, shortly after entering China, he was intercepted and detained by police. On November 19, 2019, the Shenyang Public Security Bureau placed him under criminal detention on suspicion of subverting state power (涉嫌颠覆国家政权罪). He has been held at the Shenyang City No.1 Detention Center since then.

No trial has been reported. As of August 31, 2026, the Rights Defense Network’s monthly political-prisoner report listed Wang among 259 people detained without trial, in its Liaoning regional group. No release has been documented.

Wang’s case has drawn international attention. On July 13, 2021, ChinaAid president Fu Xiqiu testified about Wang’s case before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Wang’s case was entered into the commission’s permanent record. In March 2021, Wang Dan’s Dialogue China think tank reported Wang’s name to the U.S. State Department with a request that the U.S. government raise his case with Beijing. Supporters held solidarity protests for Wang in front of the Chinese consulate in Montreal and in New York’s Times Square.

Media Profile & Archive: Wang Zhan (王展)

Sources

• CHRD Prisoners of Conscience database — individual record for 王展 / WANG ZHAN (entry 2020-01-31): detained 2019-10-15; criminally detained 2019-11-19 for subversion of state power; held at Shenyang City No.1 Detention Center; no sentence. Record lists supporting sources.
• Rights Defense Network (维权网) Issue 131 monthly report (August 31, 2026): 王展 / “Wang Zhan” listed in the detained-without-trial section, Liaoning 15-person group.
• ChinaAid, October 20, 2021: “ChinaAid President Testifies in U.S. Congress for Wang Zhan, Missing Two Years on Subversion Suspicion” — two years in detention without trial; testimony entered into the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission permanent record; Dialogue China reported his case to the State Department in March 2021.
• Chinese Political Prisoner Concern (CPPC) case record 00837 (December 2019): case file with detention-notice photo and protest images (Montreal consulate, Times Square).
• Chinese Wikipedia, “沈阳市第一看守所” (Shenyang City No.1 Detention Center): lists Wang Zhan among notable detainees, stating he was detained in 2019 over Manchuria-independence advocacy and that no news of him had emerged (reference archived June 2025).