Xu Lin, born on April 9, 1964, is a poet, songwriter, and writer from Zhuzhou in Hunan Province who has been active in China’s rights-defense movement since the late 1990s. On May 16, 2024, he was taken away by state-security officers; he is reported to have been sentenced to three years and nine months in prison for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” and to be held at Yingde Prison in Guangdong.
Early activism. According to a profile published by Chinese Human Rights Defenders, Xu began writing political articles, poetry, and songs in the late 1990s. From 2010 he took part in street actions in Guangzhou and Shenzhen — placard protests, speeches, and citizens’ gatherings — and collaborated with fellow songwriter Liu Sifang (刘四仿) on songs about freedom, human rights, and the rule of law. In 2012, after he set a poem by the Zhejiang dissident Zhu Yufu (朱虞夫) to music as the song “就是现在” (“Now Is the Time”), Guangzhou police detained him on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power” and later held him under residential surveillance. After his release he was detained again before a planned 2012 pro-democracy rally and held in a secret location for three months. In 2015, after releasing a song in support of the lawyers detained in the “709” crackdown, his employer dismissed him and he was held under house arrest for a month.
The 2017–2020 case. On September 26, 2017, ahead of the Communist Party’s 19th Congress, Xu was detained in his hometown of Zhuzhou while caring for his ill father; his Guangzhou home was searched and his computer, phone, books, and notebooks were seized. His collaborator Liu Sifang was detained the following day. On November 2, 2017, the Nansha District Procuratorate in Guangzhou formally arrested Xu on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”; Amnesty International documented the case as an urgent action, reporting that Xu was subjected to intensive interrogation and denied access to the lawyer his family hired. He was tried on July 27, 2018, and on December 7, 2018, the Nansha District Court sentenced him to three years in prison — a sentence upheld on appeal in May 2019. He served the term at Foshan Prison in Guangdong and was released on September 25, 2020, having refused, in his own words, to confess or repent.
The current case. On May 16, 2024, Xu was taken away by state-security personnel; police gathered at his home and conducted a search, Radio Free Asia reported the following day. The CHRD prisoner database records that he was detained on May 16, 2024, charged with “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” sentenced to three years and nine months, and is being held at Yingde Prison in Guangdong, with his term ending on February 15, 2028. The Rights Defense Network’s monthly roster of prisoners in mainland China listed Xu Lin in custody as of August 31, 2026, in the group serving three years and nine months.
Current status. Listed as in custody as of August 31, 2026; recorded term ends February 15, 2028. This page will be updated as further information becomes available.
Source notes for the reader: the biographical account and the 2017–2020 case are documented by Amnesty International and by Chinese Human Rights Defenders, a human-rights organization; the 2024 detention was reported by Radio Free Asia. The current sentence length rests on CHRD’s prisoner database and is consistent with the Rights Defense Network’s roster grouping — no court verdict for the current sentence has been located. Where facts rest on these sources, they are stated as reported.
Person → Media reciprocal-link insertion point: end of page, under the source-notes line — “Related: Xu Lin (徐琳) — Media Profile & Archive [link].”
Media and documentation archive: Media and documentation archive for Xu Lin (徐琳)