Identity and classification
Xie Changfa (谢长发), born in 1951 in Wangcheng County, Hunan according to rights-organization records, is a Hunan-based democracy activist and China Democracy Party organizer. Sources differ on his exact date of birth, giving October 7 and November 12, 1951; the discrepancy is unresolved.
Political activity
Human-rights records describe Xie as a former educated-youth peasant and Changsha Steel Plant worker. After the June 1989 crackdown, he gave political speeches and was subjected to re-education through labor. In 1998 he helped organize the China Democracy Party’s Hunan preparatory organization.
2008–2009 prosecution
Chinese Human Rights Defenders reports that Xie was placed under tighter monitoring after meeting fellow CDP member Yue Tianxiang in June 2008. Sources give June 25 or June 26, 2008 for the start of criminal detention and August 1 or August 2 for formal arrest.
Xie was tried on April 28, 2009. On September 1, 2009, the Changsha Municipal Intermediate Court sentenced him to thirteen years in prison for subversion of state power plus five years’ deprivation of political rights. Rights-organization records state that the Hunan High People’s Court upheld the judgment on November 16, 2009.
Imprisonment and later status
Chinese Human Rights Defenders reported imprisonment at Chishan Prison and later published allegations concerning forced labor, restricted reading materials, solitary confinement and denied family visits. These are source-attributed reports, not independently verified findings.
Dui Hua reported in March 2019 that Xie was still serving the thirteen-year term and was expected to complete it in June 2021. A historical Human Rights in China prisoner table likewise listed an anticipated June 2021 release. No primary release document was located in the prepared record, so the exact completion date and present legal or surveillance status are not asserted as independently verified facts.
Evidence limits
No public court judgment was located in the reviewed material. One-day discrepancies in the 2008 detention and arrest dates and the birth-date conflict are preserved rather than harmonized.
Media Profile & Archive: Xie Changfa / 谢长发 — Media Profile & Archive.