A Chinese student activist has been detained for almost two months by authorities in Beijing, charged with suspected separatism for allegedly supporting Tibetan rights, her friends have said.
Zhang Yadi, 22, was due to begin a master’s degree at SOAS University of London this month. She was visiting her parents in China over the summer when she went missing and has been reportedly held incommunicado.
She is believed to be being held at a detention centre in her hometown of Changsha in the southern province of Hunan, and faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted under the charge of “inciting others to split the country and undermine national unity”.
Her friends and activists say the charge is rarely used against members of the Han Chinese ethnic majority such as like Ms Zhang, but that it is now being used to target people who champion minority rights. The Communist government has long persecuted those who have acted to improve the situation of ethnic minorities in China. However, the crackdown has intensified under the leadership of president Xi Jinping.
Ms Zhang, also known as Tara, wrote for the Chinese-language digital platform Chinese Youth Stand for Tibet (CYST), which promoted Tibetan rights and inter-ethnic dialogue between Han and Tibetan communities. The platform emerged in the wake of the White Paper Movement in China in 2022, when Chinese citizens held up blank sheets of paper to protest against the state’s censorship during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ms Zhang had been studying in France but was awarded a scholarship to begin her master’s degree at the SOAS University of London in September. “We are aware of reports that a Chinese citizen who has been offered a place at SOAS is missing and detained,” a SOAS University spokesperson told The Independent.
“We are following the case very closely and offering support to those impacted via the channels available to us."
Ms Zhang travelled back to Changsha on July 5 to visit family, and planned on staying in China for two months, said Ginger Duan, a US-based Chinese activist for Tibet and one of her closest friends.
Ms Duan told The Independent that she had been in contact with Ms Zhang when she was in Hunan before her disappearance.
“I asked her how are you, and she asked me to find some other friends [to go with her] to Lhasa. I told her to take care, and nothing very special. Because she went back home, back to China, to see her parents. She basically returns to China for summer break every year. So I just treat that as usual,” she said.
Ms Duan, who founded CYST, added that her friend’s disappearance had come as a shock to her, because Ms Zhang had been a vocal Tibetan rights activist and had not previously been subject to warnings or threats from the Chinese authorities during her visits.
Ms Zhang stopped communicating with her friends and family on 30 July, which prompted her France-based partner to inform Ms Duan.
On 4 August, Ms Zhang responded to her partner’s messages on the Chinese messaging app WeChat, saying she was “ok” and “don’t worry”, Ms Duan said. However, her partner received no response when they sent Ms Zhang a picture of their cat.
Ms Duan noted that Ms Zhang and her partner communicated in the Tibetan language on the app; however, after her disappearance, her replies were only in English.
Ms Zhang’s defence lawyer, appointed by her family, has not been able to meet her, according to reports.
“Her parents are under high pressure, and communications are monitored, and her lawyer cannot see her,” Ms Duan added.
Prominent Chinese human rights lawyer Jiang Tianyong was briefly detained on 16 September when he travelled to Changsha to provide legal assistance to Ms Zhang’s family, Human Rights Watch said. He was later released, but his phone was reportedly confiscated.
“Ms Zhang is a bridge-builder between the Han Chinese and Tibetan people, and so the Chinese government is afraid of such bridge-builders like her,” said Yalkun Uluyol, China researcher at Human Rights Watch.
He told The Independent that Beijing was subjecting Ms Zhang to transnational repression for exercising her basic rights in France.
“She is being forced to pay a price for her activism, and she would be forced to endure a long-term imprisonment rather than pursuing her studies at SOAS, which could have helped her to further enhance her understanding of Tibetan rights and culture,” Mr Uluyol said.
He added: “I think that is also very alarming for many countries that are critical of the Chinese government, and [they] should ensure that they are protecting the basic rights of their citizens and they are developing tools to address China’s transnational repression.”
Human Rights Watch called on the Hunan Changsha MSS [Ministry of State Security] to ensure access to counsel for Ms Zhang and to drop all charges against the activist.
Ethnic minority communities in China, including Tibetans and Uyghurs, remain under intense state scrutiny, with authorities cracking down on any expression of dissent, including perceived separatist sentiment and displays of support for the exiled Dalai Lama, whom Beijing continues to brand a dangerous separatist.
The charge of inciting separatism has been widely used to convict ethnic Uyghurs and Tibetans during prolonged security crackdowns in both regions in recent years, rights groups say, in some cases for travelling abroad or practising their religion. Beijing denies any wrongdoing and says the crackdown was essential to stamp out terrorism, religious extremism and separatist movements.
Tibetan rights activists say that the Chinese government has intensified its crackdown on Tibetan activists this year in the wake of the Dalai Lama's 90th birthday celebrations, when he declared that “no one else has any authority to interfere” in his reincarnation.
The Independent has reached out to the Chinese government for comment.
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