Chang Weiyun (常卫云) is a farmer from Caogang Village, Xinxiang, in central China’s Henan Province. After more than a decade of petitioning over her husband’s and son’s criminal case, she was herself criminally detained in July 2023 on charges of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” (寻衅滋事) and fraud (诈骗). Her case was tried in November 2025; the verdict has not been publicly reported.
The family’s case, 2009–2018
The Chang family’s troubles began with a whistleblower letter. In the summer of 2009, Chang Weiyun’s husband Zhang Haofeng (张好峰) joined several fellow villagers in a signed, real-name complaint to higher authorities accusing their village party secretary Xu Hongzhen (许洪振) of corruption in land-compensation and collective-asset distribution. Before any formal investigation began, the list of complainants leaked, and the village knew the whistleblowers’ names that same evening.
The secretary’s son, Xu Zhenjun (许振军), who worked for the urban-management bureau of Xinxiang’s Hongqi District, repeatedly returned to the village with others to confront the complainants. On July 3, 2009, in the early hours, he broke into the Zhang home and beat Chang Weiyun, sending her to the hospital with head injuries. On the evening of July 19, he returned with a group carrying sticks and knives; in the ensuing clash, Zhang Haofeng was knocked down, their son Zhang Haibin (张海宾) was slashed, and Zhang Haibin fought back with a watermelon knife, killing Xu Zhenjun.
Police charged Zhang Haofeng and Zhang Haibin with intentional homicide. The father and son argued self-defense — the other side had forced entry with weapons — but in 2013 the Xinxiang Intermediate People’s Court convicted both of intentional homicide with “subjective intent to kill” and sentenced them to death with a two-year reprieve. The Supreme People’s Court rejected the family’s appeal in 2018. Chang Weiyun maintains the case was self-defense; the family’s account of the evidence is presented here as the family’s account, not as an adjudicated finding.
Fourteen years of petitioning
After the 2013 verdict, Chang Weiyun began years of petitioning — traveling to the Xinxiang Intermediate Court, the provincial petitions bureau, and the justice department, and repeatedly to Beijing. Local authorities came to treat her as a “persistent petitioner” and a stability risk: her name entered a key stability-maintenance watchlist, her travel was restricted, petitions were intercepted, and her daily life was monitored.
Her own detention and trial
On July 18, 2023, Chang Weiyun was criminally detained by the Fengqiu County Public Security Bureau on charges of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” and fraud. The police case rested on her connection with another petitioner, Xu Tingjing (许廷静) of Taikang County, who had helped people write petition materials and taken consultation fees; prosecutors alleged the two had “colluded in fraud.” According to the case reporting, the money said to be defrauded went directly to Xu Tingjing, Chang Weiyun never handled it, and no evidence showed her sharing in it. Her defense lawyer called it a classic case of guilt by association, rooted in the political sensitivity of long-term petitioning.
In 2024 the case was transferred to the Weihui City Court. On November 3, 2025, it was tried; media were not allowed to observe. Chang Weiyun maintained she was not guilty. No verdict has been reported.
Current status
The most recent independent record located — the tenchu.org Prisoners of Conscience Database, updated June 14, 2026 — lists Chang Weiyun (常卫云) as 刑拘候审, “detained (pre-trial).” The Rights Defense Network’s Issue 131 roster of August 31, 2026 likewise lists her among reported current-custody cases. Whether she was convicted, acquitted, released, or remains held awaiting a verdict is not established by any located source.
For the reported coverage in chronological order, see the Media Profile & Source Archive for Chang Weiyun.