Zhang Yanxia (张艳霞)
Ms. Zhang Yanxia (张艳霞), a woman in her 50s, is a Falun Gong practitioner from Heishan County, Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province, China. She began practicing Falun Gong in February 1999 and had been detained twice before, in 2003 and 2005, by Heishan County domestic-security police. On June 3, 2025, she was arrested at her home by Heishan Police Station officers during a Liaoning-wide police sweep targeting practitioners; her printers and Falun Gong materials were confiscated. Held at the Jinzhou City Detention Center, she was later sentenced to five years in prison by the Heishan County Court. The Rights Defense Network’s (维权网) monthly political-prisoners report (Issue 131, August 31, 2026) lists her as a current in-custody political prisoner in its five-year sentence group.
Background
Falun Gong (法轮功), also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline combining meditation exercises with moral teachings centered on truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. It has been suppressed in China since July 1999. Practitioners detained for their faith are commonly prosecuted under the charge of “using a cult organization to undermine law enforcement.”
The 2025 case
According to Minghui.org, a Falun Gong community publication, Ms. Zhang was one of at least 36 practitioners arrested in Jinzhou and its subordinate counties on June 2–3, 2025, in a sweep ordered by the Liaoning Provincial Public Security Bureau. Police had tracked practitioners’ vehicles and monitored their activities before the arrests. Between 9 and 10 a.m. on June 3, officers broke into her Heishan County home and took her into custody, confiscating her printer and related supplies. She was held at the Jinzhou City Women’s Detention Center along with Ms. Xu Yue, arrested the same morning in Heishan. The Heishan County Court subsequently sentenced them in a closed proceeding: five years for Ms. Zhang and two and a half years for Ms. Xu. Both were scheduled for transfer to the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison in mid-December 2025.
Current status
The Rights Defense Network’s Issue 131 monthly report (August 31, 2026), which lists 1,638 reported current-custody political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, places 张艳霞 in its 判刑5年，111人 (sentenced to 5 years, 111 people) group. No update on her condition after the scheduled December 2025 prison transfer has been found.
A note on sources
The case chronology above draws on Minghui.org, a Falun Gong community publication. Minghui’s reporting is partisan: it presents detentions as persecution and reflects the Falun Gong community’s perspective. Factual claims — dates, courts, officials, and the prison-transfer plan — are recorded here as reported by that publication; no court document, state-media account, or independent international-media reporting on her case was found. The five-year sentence and current-custody listing are independently corroborated by the Rights Defense Network’s Issue 131 roster (August 31, 2026).
Sources
- Minghui.org, “Arrested in a Police Sweep, Two Liaoning Women Convicted for Their Faith,” December 18, 2025
- Minghui.org, “Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province: 36 Falun Gong Practitioners Arrested in Two Days,” June 17, 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; 张艳霞 in the 判刑5年，111人 group)
- 维权网 (Rights Defense Network), English edition of the same report (“Sentenced to 5 years, 111 people: … Zhang Yanxia …”), August 31, 2026
Media profile & archive: Zhang Yanxia (张艳霞) — Media Profile & Archive