Classification: Woman from Beijing, born 1995; disappeared January 6, 2023 amid the 2022 “blank paper” protest movement; listed as detained without trial; current whereabouts unverified.
Background
Li Chaoran (李超然), born in 1995 and known to friends as Cathy, is a woman from Beijing. She earned her undergraduate degree at Beijing Normal University and a master’s degree at Renmin University, and after graduation worked at a financial institution in Beijing. She is described as an enthusiast of musical theater, birdwatching, and night-sky photography.
Disappearance
Li did not take part in the November 27, 2022 blank-paper gathering at Beijing’s Liangmaqiao. She had acted as a guarantor for a young person detained in the protest movement. According to the Rights Defense Network, Li had met Lin Qian — a woman detained over the blank-paper protests — only two or three times. When Lin fell ill with COVID-19, Li went to the Pinggu police station to secure her release on bail, took her into her own home, and sheltered her until Lin was detained again.
On January 6, 2023, Li disappeared; the Rights Defense Network reported she may have been formally approved for arrest by the procuratorate. That uncertainty is reported as such, never stated as fact.
Current status
The Rights Defense Network’s monthly prisoner report (Issue 131, August 31, 2026) lists Li Chaoran among those detained without trial in the Beijing/Tianjin region. No public record of a trial or sentence has been located. Her current whereabouts, charges, and exact detention status have not been independently corroborated by a second source since early 2023. She is not presented here as confirmed imprisoned.
Note on a namesake: Minghui reports from 2001 and 2013 about an elderly female military physician named “Li Chaoran,” arrested in October 2000 and sentenced in 2001, describe a different person — the two cases’ biographies are incompatible (born 1995 in Beijing vs. a military physician of the 2000s) — and must not be attached to this case.
Sources: Rights Defense Network (维权网) information center, case report, January 21, 2023; Chinese Human Rights Defenders, Prisoners of Conscience database record 李超然 / “LI CHAO RAN” (entered 2023-02-09); Rights Defense Network (维权网), Issue 131 monthly prisoner report, August 31, 2026.
Media profile & archive: Media archive for Li Chaoran (李超然)