Person profile: Kong Wentao (孔文涛)
This archive preserves the documented source record behind the Kong Wentao (孔文涛) profile: a physician from Nanjing sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment for subversion of state power after remarks made in a WeChat group, with provenance and limitations noted. Allegations remain attributed rather than stated as fact.
Case chronology
- Early April 2018 — Kong Wentao, born 1966, director of gastroenterology and chief physician at Gaochun People’s Hospital in Nanjing, is taken into custody by Nanjing police on suspicion of subversion of state power after voicing pro-democracy views in a WeChat group; he loses contact thereafter (China Political Prisoner Concern profile).
- December 2018 — Tried in a Nanjing court; sentenced at first instance to 13 years’ imprisonment for subversion of state power, term to April 2031. He pleads guilty in court and states he will not appeal (reported; no court judgment publicly available).
- January 26, 2019 — The China Political Prisoner Concern blog publishes a full case profile (record no. 00708): education (Nanjing Medical University, class of 1986), hospital career, April 2018 arrest, December 2018 trial, 13-year sentence to April 2031, Ward 9 of Nanjing Prison.
- December 18, 2019 — The CHRD Prisoners of Conscience database records the case, independently confirming the name, birth year, Nanjing origin, subversion conviction, 13-year sentence, April 2018 detention, term to April 2031, and Ward 9, Nanjing Prison.
- August 31, 2026 — The Rights Defense Network’s monthly report (Issue 131) lists Kong Wentao among the eleven prisoners sentenced to 13 years, consistent with him remaining in custody.
Key source records
- 中國政治犯關注 (China Political Prisoner Concern), January 26, 2019 — 孔文濤（CPPC編號：00708）: case profile with biographical and case detail — education, hospital career, April 2018 arrest, December 2018 trial, 13-year sentence to April 2031, Ward 9 Nanjing Prison. URL: http://cppc1989.blogspot.com/2019/01/cppc00708.html (independent Chinese-language rights-monitoring blog; verified read 2026-10-09).
- Chinese Human Rights Defenders — Prisoners of Conscience database, record 孔文涛 / “KONG WENTAO” (record entered 2019-12-18): born 1966, male, Nanjing, Jiangsu; subversion (颠覆国家政权罪); arrested 2018.4; sentenced 13 years; release 2031.4; Nanjing Prison Ward 9. Database search page (human-rights NGO prisoner database; verified retrieval 2026-10-09).
- Rights Defense Network (维权网), Issue 131 monthly in-custody report (August 31, 2026): statistical table lists Kong Wentao among eleven prisoners sentenced to 13 years (verified as roster record).
Limitations and contradictions
No publicly available court judgment has been located; sentencing details rest on rights-media and NGO records, reported as such. Two image captions on the China Political Prisoner Concern page read “孫文涛” (Sun Wentao), an apparent caption typo; the article title and body consistently read 孔文涛 — the variant is not presented as an alias. A beijingspring.com repost and a bad.news post linked from the CHRD record could not be read (upstream failure / unrelated page body) and are not relied on. No PRC official or state-media reporting on this case was found; no consular involvement applies (mainland-citizen case).
Person profile: Kong Wentao (孔文涛)