Zhang Yadi (张雅笛)
Zhang Yadi (张雅笛), also known online as Tara (Tara Freesoul), is a 22-year-old student activist and Tibetan-rights advocate from Changsha, Hunan Province. While visiting China from France in the summer of 2025, she disappeared on July 30 in Shangri-La, Yunnan, and was subsequently detained by the Changsha State Security Bureau on suspicion of “inciting separatism” (煽动分裂国家罪）. She has been held at the Changsha State Security detention center, denied contact with family and lawyers, and, as of February 2026, kept in solitary confinement, according to a joint statement by the International Federation for Human Rights and the World Organisation Against Torture.
Background
Born in 2003 in Changsha, Hunan, Zhang studied at the Paris School of Business (ESCP) in France, which she entered in 2022. In France she became active in public advocacy on Chinese human-rights issues: she joined the 2022 “white paper” protests in Paris, and in 2024 she joined the Chinese-language digital platform 华语青年挺藏会 (Chinese Youth Stand for Tibet) as an editor, writing about Tibetan culture and Han–Tibetan dialogue under the name Tara Freesoul. She speaks Chinese, French, English, and Tibetan, and practices Tibetan Buddhism. She had won a scholarship to begin a master’s program in anthropology at SOAS University of London in September 2025.
Detention
Zhang returned to China on July 5, 2025, to visit family. On July 30, while in Shangri-La, Yunnan, she lost contact with the outside world. Her family later received a formal detention notice stating she had been criminally detained by the Changsha State Security Bureau on suspicion of “inciting separatism.” Reuters reported in September 2025 that she was believed to be held at a detention center in Changsha; the family-appointed lawyer was unable to meet her, with visits refused on state-secrets grounds. On September 16, 2025, the human-rights lawyer Jiang Tianyong (江天勇), who had traveled to Changsha to assist Zhang’s mother, was briefly taken away by unidentified men in a Changsha café; he was later released.
Current status
Zhang has not been tried. The Rights Defense Network’s Issue 131 monthly report (August 31, 2026) lists 张雅笛 among 259 people detained without trial, in its Hunan section. In February 2026, the International Federation for Human Rights and the World Organisation Against Torture stated that Zhang had been held in solitary confinement since her arrest, with no contact with family or lawyers, and that her conditions and health were unknown. No verdict or sentence has been reported.
International response
Human Rights Watch has called for her immediate release; Amnesty International issued an urgent action on her case; the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, the Canada Tibet Committee, Fortify Rights, ChinaAid, and the International Campaign for Tibet have all issued statements of concern. The U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China has listed her in its political-prisoner database. The governments of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom have expressed concern. China’s Foreign Ministry said it was not aware of the case.
Sources
- Laurie Chen, Reuters, “China detains student for Tibet activism, rights group says,” September 23, 2025
- Amnesty International, Urgent Action (Chinese edition): “年轻学生因在海外参与和平行动而成为打压目标” (Zhang Yadi / Tara), October 2025
- 维权网 (Rights Defense Network), “维权网：中国大陆在押政治犯、良心犯月度报告（2026年8月31日）第131期（共1638人）,” August 31, 2026 (Chinese edition; 张雅笛 in the Hunan detained-without-trial list)
Media profile & archive: Zhang Yadi (张雅笛) — Media Profile & Archive