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Research record. Last verified August 31, 2026. Facts, attributed statements, and unresolved claims are distinguished below. No photograph is reproduced because reuse rights have not been established.
Huang Qi is a citizen journalist and human-rights defender who founded the 64 Tianwang Human Rights Center and website. His work documented disappearances, trafficking, disasters, petitions, and alleged official abuses.
Mainland Chinese Communist authorities detained him on November 28, 2016. On July 29, 2019, the Mianyang Intermediate People’s Court convicted him of “intentionally leaking state secrets” and “illegally providing state secrets to foreign entities.” It imposed a combined 12-year prison sentence, four years’ deprivation of political rights, and a 20,000-renminbi fine.
Current status and location
UN experts identified Huang Qi on February 28, 2025 as continuing to serve the 12-year sentence at Bazhong Prison in Sichuan Province. A 2025 government response also stated that he was imprisoned there. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on human-rights defenders again included Huang Qi among imprisoned defenders whose rights and health required protection in an August 11, 2025 statement.
Health, medical care, and access
Huang Qi has documented underlying medical conditions. UN experts reported that information previously requested about adequate medical care, investigations, and medical examinations had not been supplied, and recorded an allegation that he had been prevented from receiving family visits. The 2025 government response states that his procedural rights are protected, that family and counsel visits are available under law, and that he receives regular checkups and specialist consultations.
These accounts are materially different. This profile attributes each claim to its source. It does not present the government’s assurances as an independent medical assessment, and it does not convert older allegations into a confirmed current diagnosis. No recent independent examination or sufficiently current verified family-contact record was found.
Why this case matters
Huang Qi’s case concerns press freedom, citizen documentation of human-rights violations, protection of sources and petitioners, due process, and the use of state-secrets charges against public-interest reporting.
Free China Movement position
The Free China Movement calls for Huang Qi’s immediate and unconditional release; independent access to legal counsel, family, and qualified medical care; a credible review of reported mistreatment and denial of access; restoration of his civil and political rights; and accountability for violations of internationally protected rights.
Sources
- UN Special Procedures communication AL CHN 5/2025, February 28, 2025
- Government of the People’s Republic of China response to UN Special Procedures, AL CHN 1/2025
- OHCHR, “UN Special Rapporteur: China must uphold the rights of imprisoned human rights defenders,” August 11, 2025
- Front Line Defenders, “Detention of Huang Qi”
- Amnesty International, “Health fears for prisoner of conscience: Huang Qi,” September 24, 2020
Free China 