Who is Chang Haihua?
Chang Haihua (常海华, characters probable), a Falun Gong practitioner from Xinzhou City, Shanxi Province, was arrested in August 2015 and sentenced to four years in prison in March 2016 for filing a criminal complaint against former Chinese president Jiang Zemin.
On the evening of August 8, 2015, about 13 police officers from the Xinzhou City Police Bureau came to Chang’s home and arrested her for filing the complaint. She was 61 at the time. That same day, more than 60 other practitioners living in Xinfu District, Xinzhou City, were arrested in what was part of a wider sweep against practitioners who had joined the 2015 wave of complaints against Jiang, whom practitioners blame for launching the campaign against Falun Gong. Chang and four other practitioners were taken to the Nancheng Police Station; after a 15-day detention term, Chang was among those transferred to a “transformation” center at the Pailigao Resort instead of being released.
Trial and sentence
Chang was tried on December 24, 2015, by the Xinfu District Court. Her defense attorney was not present at the hearing, and no verdict was given that day. In March 2016 her family hired a lawyer, but the presiding judge said the lawyer was too late to review the case file.
On March 29, 2016, Chang received the verdict at the Xinfu District Detention Center: four years in prison. She immediately appealed. Her attorney was then blocked from meeting her at the detention center and from reviewing her case file, which had been transferred to the Xinzhou City Intermediate Court. After negotiation, the lawyer reviewed the file, found the trial and sentencing materials unlawful, and requested a second trial. The intermediate-court judge declined to hold one without giving a reason. The family was not formally notified; on May 23 the family learned from the judge that the original sentence stood, and on May 24 Chang called her family from the detention center to say she would be sent to the Yuci Women’s Prison the next day.
What is not known
The public record located for this profile ends in mid-2016. A four-year sentence from 2016 would have been completed around 2019–2020; no release report or later case record for Chang Haihua was found in the searches conducted for this profile. The Rights Defense Network / 维权网 Issue 131 roster of political prisoners in custody, dated August 31, 2026, includes the name Chang Haihua — but the available evidence does not establish whether this listing refers to the same Xinzhou woman, and no new arrest or sentencing report corroborates a post-2016 detention. This profile therefore does not state a current custody status; it is recorded as unresolved pending further evidence.
Key facts at a glance
- Name: Chang Haihua (常海华, characters probable)
- Age: 61 at the time of sentencing (2016)
- Home: Xinzhou City (Xinfu District), Shanxi Province
- Arrested: August 8, 2015 — for filing a criminal complaint against former president Jiang Zemin
- Tried: December 24, 2015, Xinfu District Court (attorney absent)
- Sentenced: four years; verdict received March 29, 2016
- Appeal: denied without a hearing, May 2016
- Prison transfer (reported): Yuci Women’s Prison, expected May 25, 2016
- Post-2016 record: none located; custody status unresolved