Guo Feixiong (original name: Yang Maodong), was born in Gucheng, Hubei Province in 1966. In 1986, when he was a college student, he participated in the student movement in Shanghai. After his graduation from Department of Philosophy of East China Normal University in 1988, the government assigned him to teach philosophy at the Staff Medical College of Wuhan City (this college later merged with the Jianghan University).
Outraged by the crackdown on the 1989 Tiananmen Movement, he decided to give up his state-sponsored teaching position. In 1991, he moved to the Guangdong Province in southern China, where he worked as a writer under the pen name “Guo Feixiong” and also a publisher between 1993 and 2001. Reportedly, his business was rather successful, earning him enoughto buy a luxury apartment in the most expensive area in Guangzhou during this time. Since 2001, he has been an active participant in the movement defending human rights (known as the Weiquan Movement) and his life has taken an irreversible U-turn.
Through the Weiquan Movement, he got to know Gao Zhisheng, the founder of Beijing Shengzhi Law Firm. Since starting to practice in 1996, Lawyer Gao devoted one-third of his time to defending victims of human rights abuses and disadvantaged groups free of charge. His devotion to and enthusiasm for public service earned him the Chinese Ministry of Justice’s award for the "Top Ten Outstanding Lawyers in China” in 2001.
Gao and Guo grew up in similarly humble backgrounds. Gao came from a poverty-stricken family and worked as a child labourer in a coal mine; Guo’s family was sent to work in the countryside, where his mother died when he was young. They both experienced hard lives when they were young, characteristic of socially disadvantaged groups, but became successful though their pursuit of education. These experiences made it impossible for them to turn a blind eye to the injustices in society and the difficulties faced by people who shared their background. Therefore, the two became close friends and eventually colleagues - in 2005, Guo became a consultant at Shengzhi Law Firm in Beijing.
Existence and Significance of Agents ad Litem
It should be noted that Guo himself was not a lawyer, nor did he go to law school. Yet, in China's unique setting, there is a type of legal worker known as “agent ad litem”. In addition to exercising the right of defence by an individual themselves, China's "Civil Procedure Law" and "Administrative Procedure Law" allows an individual to nominate one or two litigation representatives (agents ad litem), including: lawyers; grassroots legal service workers; their close relatives or employees; citizens recommended by the individual’s community, work unit, or relevant social groups. Citizens who act as agents ad litem may participate in litigation in accordance with the procedures and rights prescribed by law.
The existence of agents ad litem is due to the shortage of practicing lawyers in China. After the Communist Party took power in 1949, it carried out a wave of “judicial reforms" in the early 1950s during which so-called "outdated legal views” (such as “legal equality", "judicial independence", and "procedural primacy”) came under attack. The Communist Party replaced qualified judges and lawyers from the former government with disabled veteran soldiers and unemployed workers, and turned all lawyers into state lawyers as it imitated the legal system in the Soviet Union. Lawyers and judges were all under the leadership of the government, administrated by the Bureau of Justice. During the Cultural Revolution between 1966 and 1976, the public security, procuratorate and legal sector were all dominated by political struggles. The entire judicial profession was paralysed, its practitioners inadequately trained.
Following its reform and opening up, China’s 1978 "Constitution" re-established the legal defence system, legal institutions and allowed non-state run legal practices. Many current practicing lawyers were working in other sectors at that time, before passing the National Judicial Examination to become lawyers. But still, after more than 40 years of development in the legal sector, by the end of 2020, there were only slightly more than 522,000 practicing lawyers in China. In the same year in the United States, the number of practicing lawyers was 1.328 million, despite the total population of the United States being less than a quarter that of China. Therefore, even though some agents ad litem in China face criticisms of being unprofessional, their services are irreplaceable.
Furthermore, the authorities have frequently and increasingly revoked the licenses of human rights lawyers as a means to punish them for defending the rights of their clients. Working as agents ad litem is a way for these lawyers to make a living and help their clients, such as Wang Yu, Cheng Hai, Zhang Wenpeng.
Two Sentences and Repeated Torture
In late July 2005, Guo travelled to Taishi Village, Panyu District of Guangzhou City to provide legal advice, as villagers were seeking to remove their village chief whom they accused of corruption; all the while reporting the progress of the case on his blog. The dismissal of the village chief was blocked by the district government, as government–business collusion was the norm in China. Instead, villagers were brutally assaulted and detained, and their demand was rejected. Due to the participation of human rights activists and extensive coverage by foreign media, the central government was disturbed by the news and instructed Guangdong provincial government to investigate thoroughly.
Despite the success of activists’ participation in the case, Guo has since been subjected to physical assaults, regular surveillance and harassment. In 2006, he publicly condemned the persecution of Falun Gong followers and Lawyer Gao Zhisheng, and was himself arrested by the authorities for "illegal business operations”. The authorities accused Guo of illegally publishing a book in 2001 when he was a bookseller, but during his arrest they focused mainly on questions regarding Gao Zhisheng and the Taishi Village Incident. He was first detained in Meizhou Prison in Guangdong Province and later transferred to a secret location in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province. Although China had ratified the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in 1988, the authorities tortured him during interrogation and throughout his sentence, including tying him to a tiger bench, 13-day-sleep deprivation for interrogation, shackling him for more than 100 days, and hanging him from the ceiling by his arms while using an electric baton to electrocute his arms, face and genitals. Hoping to end such humiliation and pain, Guo attempted suicide by hitting his head against windows and walls.
In May 2007, the Guangzhou City Procuratorate formally charged Guo Feixiong; by November, the Tianhe District Court of Guangzhou City had convicted him of "illegal business operations" and sentenced him to five years in prison and a fine of 40,000 yuan. He was sent to Meizhou Prison in Guangdong Province. Human rights organizations strongly condemned this conviction, seeing it as the political persecution of dissidents under the guise of economic crimes. In August 2009, Guo's lawyer Liu Shihui alleged that the Justice Bureau had put pressure on his law firm to fire him and revoke his license, after his reporting on the torture Guo had suffered.
Guo was released in 2011 after serving his sentence. Between 2012 and 2013, he participated in the New Citizens’ Movement and the Southern Street Movement. The New Citizen’s Movement was started by prominent legal scholar Xu Zhiyong in 2012. This movement had two goals: urging China to peacefully transform from authoritarianism to constitutional governance, bidding farewell to a culture of autocrats; and promoting civil society. At the political level, the movement called on the National People's Congress to ratify the "International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights" and to disclose government officials’ wealth by organising joint petitions among citizens. At the social level, it lobbied for "Equal Rights for Education”, to abolish the restriction on college admission exams imposed on children from the rural areas who had moved with their parents to the cities. As a consequence, citizens raised placards on the streets in eight cities across southern China in 2013, demanding officials disclose their wealth. Guo Feixiong was considered one of the coordinators of the action.
Wu Kuimin, a senior lawyer in China has observed this movement and describes it as: “different from the Wenquan movement or a movement to fight for one’s [own] rights. It is a political movement… Their actions would have an impact on the system, or let’s say on the ruling class… The usual actions to defend one’s interests could not influence the system as much, but they [the activists in the New Citizens’ Movement] aim to cause a relatively large impact and influence.”
Soon after the street actions, Guo Feixiong and other activists faced severe suppression. In August 2013, Guo Feixiong was criminally detained on the charge of "gathering a crowd to disrupt public order". He was denied the right to meet his lawyer Chen Guangwu until 14 November 2013. The two major “accusations” Guo faced were: organising street protests in early 2013 related to the Southern Weekly call for a free press; placard action in eight Chinese cities to demand officials disclose their wealth and to urge the National People’s Congress to ratify the the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Tianhe District Court of Guangzhou City sentenced him to six years in prison under charges of “gathering crowds to disturb social order” and “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” in November 2015. Guo Feixiong issued a statement at sentencing, saying “this verdict violates justice and the law. This is heinous political persecution of me and Sun Desheng [another activist] by China’s dark antidemocratic forces. We are completely innocent.”
During his second sentence, Guo faced further torture: insufficient food, prolonged custody in a windowless and overcrowded cell, and lack of medical treatment. He was released after serving his sentence on 7 August 2019, but has been subsequently under surveillance and, sometimes, forcibly disappeared.
A Beautiful Family Shattered
Guo’s daughter was 10 years old and his son was 5 when their father was put behind bars in 2006 for the first time. Though they lived in the metropolis Guangzhou, no school was willing to take them in. To ensure her children's right to education, Guo’s wife Zhang Qing was forced to escape with them to Thailand and applied for political asylum in 2009. After the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Thailand rejected their application, China Aid helped them to move to the United States. Since then, Zhang and the two children have lived in exile, but never given up the call for Guo’s release.
Zhang was diagnosed with late-stage colon cancer in early 2021. According to Guo Feixiong’s sister, the sickness could have been caused by a combination of her financial burden in supporting the family, the pressure of raising two children alone, her longing for her husband, and her anxiety over her efforts to complete her PhD degree. After the diagnosis, Zhang’s only wish was to reunite with Guo as soon as possible. However, on 28 January 2021, Guo was barred from leaving China at Shanghai Pudong Airport and detained for "endangering national security". On 29 November 2021, Guo wrote an open letter to the Chinese Premier at the time, Li Keqiang, demanding freedom of movement so that he could visit his wife who was critically ill. He received no reply and was detained again a week later. About 40 scholars in law, human rights and sinology launched a joint petition, urging the Chinese government to respect Chinese law and human dignity by immediately releasing Guo and allowing him to see his wife. However, their efforts were in vain.
On 10 January 2022, Zhang Qing passed away. A close friend of Zhang recalled that Guo’s re-arrest in December 2021 had been a disheartening blow to her - she lost all her hope and her condition deteriorated rapidly. The Guangzhou Public Security Bureau formally arrested Guo on 12 January on the charge of "inciting subversion of state power”, likely in order to block him from attending his wife’s funeral.
Guo has been detained at the Guangzhou No. 1 Detention Centre since then. The authorities barred him from meeting his lawyer for over half year, citing that his case concerned “national security”. His case was passed to Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court on 8 July 2022. Guo's sister said that the lawyer finally met with Guo Feixiong via video call in early July and learned that Guo Feixiong had been on hunger strike since his arrest, with the prison guards force-feeding him to keep him alive. He weighs less than 50 kilograms, and has been losing weight at a further rate of 2 kilograms per month. His family fears for his life and have called on the authorities to treat Guo justly.
The fate of Guo Feixiong's family illustrates that legal workers in China, who simply want to defend the legal rights of themselves and other citizens, are often crushed into pieces by the authorities. This is a government which ignores international conventions it has ratified, forgets personal liberty guaranteed by the constitution and shows no respect for human dignity. It is not only Guo Feixiong that has suffered from unjust sentencing and torture, his family has endured almost 20 years of inhumane separation and unspeakable suffering - but this is a fate shared by many other legal workers in China.
Background information of the case of Yang Maodong (Pseudonym: Guo Feixiong)
The case was passed from Guangzhou Municipal People's Procuratorate to the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court on 8 July, 2022
Charges: Inciting subversion of state power
Major allegations:
1. Yang Maodong published articles on the internet under the pseudonym of Guo Feixiong;
2. Yang created the "World Forum for Constitutional Democracy" website and published articles, written by himself and others to incite the subversion of state power;
3. Yang was interviewed by Radio Free Asia on 27 January, 2021 when he was blocked from flying to the United States to take care of his sick wife.
Place of detention: Guangzhou City No. 1 Detention Center, Guangdong Province (Guangzhou No. 1 Detention Center, No. 9, Shigang North Street, Guanghai Road, Chatou, Shijing Town, Baiyun District, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province. Postal code: 510430)
Last updated: 15 March 2023