Zhang Tingfu (张廷福)
Zhang Tingfu is a rights defender from Chongqing. Born in the 1940s, he was in his seventies at the time of his documented detention in 2019.
A decade of petitioning
Zhang’s conflict with the authorities began on June 30, 2009, when he was detained by the Shangqingsi police station in Chongqing’s Yuzhong district over a dispute with a neighbor. Zhang later questioned the injury claim made against him after learning that the medical records cited predated the incident. From that point on, he spent years petitioning higher-level departments over the conduct of the Shangqingsi station, without resolution, according to reporting by the independent outlet 民生观察.
2019 detention
On August 15, 2019, Zhang was summoned from his home to the Shangqingsi police station, where he was warned against continuing to petition and then released. On September 13, 2019, the 70-something Zhang was intercepted at the Dazhou railway station in Sichuan and placed under criminal detention — police said the Chongqing station had listed him as a wanted person online. Two days later, on September 15, 2019, the Yuzhong District Public Security Bureau of Chongqing placed him under criminal detention on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” (寻衅滋事）, and he was held at the Yuzhong District Detention Center. His family received the criminal detention notice on September 16 after repeated complaints. The record maintained by the Chinese Human Rights Defenders’ Prisoners of Conscience database notes that he was later released; the release date is not documented.
Status
Zhang’s current status is uncertain. The Chinese Human Rights Defenders database records that he was released after his 2019 detention, while the Rights Defense Network’s monthly prisoner roster (Issue 131, dated August 31, 2026) lists him among the prisoners in custody in Chongqing. No dated record of a subsequent detention has been located.
No conviction or sentence is documented for Zhang Tingfu. The 2019 measure against him was criminal detention on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” — a suspicion, not a conviction.
Zhang Tingfu should not be confused with Zhang Tingxiang (张廷祥）, a separate prisoner from Guizhou with a distinct case, or with Shi Tingfu (石廷福）.
Related records: Zhang Tingfu (张廷福) — Media Archive.