This archive collects source material on the case of Sun Meng (孙萌), the eldest son of Sun Dawu (孙大午), who was sentenced to twelve years’ imprisonment on July 28, 2021 by the Gaobeidian Municipal People’s Court in Hebei Province.
Case timeline
- November 2020 — Sun Dawu and more than twenty relatives and employees are detained following a land dispute involving the Dawu Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Group and a state-run farm. NPR reports that detainees were held in secret house arrest for more than five months before formal charges.
- July 15–27, 2021 — twelve-day trial before the Gaobeidian Municipal People’s Court, held behind closed doors. Defense claims about mistreatment and forced confessions were reported by media and rejected by the court.
- July 28, 2021 — RFA reports Sun Dawu received eighteen years, Sun Meng twelve years, Sun Dehua twelve years, and Sun Zhihua nine years. NPR reports nineteen relatives and employees received terms from fifteen months to twelve years.
- August 31, 2026 — Rights Defense Network Issue 131 places 孙萌 in its twelve-year-sentence group of current detainees.
Key sources
Radio Free Asia, July 28, 2021, via GlobalSecurity reprint: https://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/china/2021/07/china-210728-rfa03.htm
NPR, July 28, 2021: https://www.nprillinois.org/2021-07-28/chinese-billionaire-sun-dawu-is-sentenced-to-18-years-for-provoking-trouble
SwarajyaMag, July 30, 2021: https://swarajyamag.com/news-brief/vocal-critic-of-chinese-government-billionaire-sun-dawu-jailed-for-18-years
Rights Defense Network / 维权网, Issue 131, August 31, 2026.
Evidence note
No reporting reviewed details Sun Meng’s individual charges, his alleged conduct, or his prison location. The court judgment text itself was not verified firsthand. Claims about torture and forced confessions rest on defense-team statements and media reporting. The name appears as 孙萌 in the Issue 131 roster; an earlier internal packet rendered 孙孟. The roster form 孙萌 is used here, with the variant preserved as an unresolved transcription difference.
Related records: Sun Dawu, Sun Dehua, and Sun Zhihua are separate individuals sentenced in the same case and are not merged into this record.
Person profile: Sun Meng 孙萌