Media Profile & Archive — Zhang Wenhe (张文和）
For the profile of Zhang Wenhe, see Zhang Wenhe (张文和）.
This archive preserves the key published reports documenting Zhang Wenhe’s case — a Beijing Democracy Wall-era activist repeatedly confined to psychiatric hospitals — in chronological order.
2016 — ChinaAid: release from the fourth confinement
On January 29, 2016, ChinaAid reported (written in Chinese by Qiao Nong, translated by Carolyn Song) that Beijing authorities had placed Zhang Wenhe under strict watch at home after his November 2015 release from a 20-month confinement at Changping Mental Healthcare Center. According to the report, 15 members of Holy Love Fellowship Church were taken into criminal custody on January 24, 2014 after planning to meet in Zhang’s home; Zhang was transferred to Changping on March 4, 2014 and released on November 18, 2015 after his son, Zhang Chi, negotiated with police. Zhang said hospital staff forcibly administered psychiatric medication and that this was his fourth forced psychiatric confinement. — link
2021 — 维权网： the fifth psychiatric confinement
On October 29, 2021, 维权网 reported that in the early hours of October 22, 2021, police from the Zhongcang station in Tongzhou searched Zhang Wenhe’s home and took him away, placing him in a psychiatric hospital the same day with no family visits allowed. His wife, Wang Sue （王素娥）, formed a “Rescue Zhang Wenhe” group and shaved her head as a public pledge to defend his rights. On October 25 she located him at Tongzhou District Psychiatric Hospital; police said a judicial assessment was planned for October 28, after which he might be moved. The report identifies Zhang as a Beijing Tongzhou native, an old democracy-movement activist, Hui, a convert to Christianity, active in the democracy movement since the 1979 Xidan Democracy Wall, and repeatedly sent to psychiatric hospitals — this being the fifth time. — link
2021 — 民生观察： detailed biography and appeal
On October 26–27, 2021, 民生观察 published a detailed biography and an appeal titled “Stop ‘being psychiatrized’ — release Zhang Wenhe.” Citing Zhang’s wife’s account, it reports that Zhang was taken at about 1 a.m. on October 22, 2021, with police citing online speech as “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” and placed in a psychiatric hospital that night. It documents his five confinements (1980–81: 8 months; 2007–08: 15 months; 2009–12: 32 months; 2014–15: 20 months; 2021: ongoing), his 1979 Democracy Wall activity and 19-month detention (including 8 months in a prison psychiatric facility), his 2004 participation in Hong Kong’s July 1 march, and his 2018 flight to Bahrain and deportation. — link
2021 — CPPC record #01070
On November 3, 2021, the 中國政治犯關注 (CPPC) project published its case record for 張文和 (CPPC #01070): born 1954, Tongzhou District, Beijing, Hui; Xidan Democracy Wall participant; detained 1 year 7 months in 1979; founder of the crafts company; four earlier psychiatric confinements; fled to Bahrain in 2018 and was deported; taken by Zhongcang police on October 22, 2021 and placed in a psychiatric hospital with no family visits; wife Wang Sue formed a rescue group. It states he was held at Beijing Tongzhou District Psychiatric Hospital. — link
Database record
CHRD Prisoners-of-Conscience database entry for 张文和 / ZHANG WEN HE (entered October 31, 2021): born 1954, male, Hui, Tongzhou, Beijing; last taken October 22, 2021; held at Beijing City Tongzhou District Psychiatric Hospital; no charge or sentence recorded. Cites the 维权网， 民生观察， RFA, and CPPC sources above. — CHRD database search
Archival notes
- An RFA Mandarin report from October 2007 on Zhang Wenhe is cited in the CHRD record but could not be opened (access blocked); it is listed here by citation only.
- No official court or government notice regarding Zhang Wenhe’s confinements has been located. All psychiatric-confinement facts above rest on NGO and monitoring-organization reporting, as attributed.
Related profile: Zhang Wenhe (张文和）.