FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Washington, D.C. — September 8, 2026 — The Free China Movement calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Chinese pro-democracy activist Zhang Yi (张毅), who remains detained in Lhasa after authorities accused him of “inciting separatism” following an incident in which he showed a photograph of the Dalai Lama on his mobile phone.
Zhang Yi’s case is not only about one photograph. It is about the continuing criminalization of peaceful expression, memory, conscience, and association under the Mainland Chinese Communist Government.
In 1989, Zhang Yi joined students in Wuhan who stood up for democratic change. That decision changed the course of his life. He was imprisoned, and years later he continued to speak and act for basic rights despite the consequences. His story belongs to the unfinished struggle of a generation that asked China to become freer, more humane, and accountable to its own people.
To Zhang Yi, on his birthday
Zhang Yi, on your birthday, we want you to hear something that a prison wall should never be able to silence: you are not alone.
We remember that you stood with the democracy movement in 1989. We remember the years that followed. And we honor the fact that, after paying such a heavy price, you did not simply abandon the hope that China could one day be free.
Your contribution is not measured only by a title or by a single moment in 1989. It is also measured by persistence — by continuing to care about the rights and dignity of other people after imprisonment and repression had already taken so much from your own life.
Today, friends of freedom in China and around the world are thinking of you. We want your family to know that your case has not been forgotten, and we want those holding you to know that detention cannot erase either your history or the ideals for which you have stood.
Happy birthday, Zhang Yi. We wish you courage and strength, and we hope the next birthday finds you where you belong: free, with your family and friends.
What must happen now
The Free China Movement calls on the Mainland Chinese Communist Government to release Zhang Yi immediately and unconditionally. Until he is free, the authorities should allow meaningful family contact and access to legal counsel of his choosing, and ensure that he is protected from torture and other ill-treatment.
We ask governments, human-rights organizations, religious-freedom advocates, parliamentarians, journalists, and others who can give his case public attention to keep asking a simple question: why should a man be imprisoned for peacefully showing a photograph?
Background
Amnesty International has reported that Zhang was detained in Lhasa on July 1, 2026, that his family received a Criminal Detention Notice dated July 18, and that he was formally arrested on July 28 on suspicion of “inciting separatism.” Human-rights reporting also identifies Zhang as a participant in the 1989 democracy movement in Wuhan and reports that he previously served a prison sentence following the crackdown.
The Free China Movement has previously reported on Zhang’s 2026 detention and has stated that showing a photograph of the Dalai Lama must not be treated as evidence of “separatism.”
Related FreeChina.live coverage:
- Amnesty: Zhang Yi Detained in Lhasa After Showing a Dalai Lama Photo
- Free China Movement: A Photograph of the Dalai Lama Is Not Separatism
Source note: current reporting contains conflicting birth-year information, so this release does not state Zhang Yi’s age as independently verified.
Media contact: Free China Movement — contact@freechina.live
Research and archive: Zhang Yi — Media Profile & Archive · Zhang Yi — Dissident Profile