3 April 2013: Wang Quanzhang, defending a 68-year-old Falun Gong practitioner during a trial, was arrested and subsequently disappeared following a confrontation with the judge. The court alleged that Wang was detained for "violating court order" due to using his mobile to photograph materials in court.

5 April 2013: Following his disappearance, over a hundred Chinese lawyers petitioned for the release of the courtroom video and for Wang Quanzhang’s freedom. During this petition, approximately 50 lawyers and citizens congregated outside the Jingjiang court, demanding his liberation. Nearly 140 lawyers from 23 provinces and cities across China submitted an open letter to the All-China Solicitors Association, the Beijing Solicitors Association, and the Jingjiang Court, insisting on Wang Quanzhang’s immediate release and holding the judges and court president accountable. Wang Quanzhang was released three days after the detention on 6 April 2013.

28 March 2014: The Jiansanjiang Incident, a significant event involving the prosecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Wang Quanzhang journeyed to a detention centre in Heilongjiang province to provide defence. Despite the risk, Wang showed no fear, even though it was reported that several defence lawyers investigating the "black jail" related to the Jiansanjiang Incident were assaulted by police, suffering broken ribs and threats of organ removal. Police at the detention centre subjected Wang Quanzhang to violent abuse, including smashing his head against a wall and punches from behind.

10 July 2015: Wang Quanzhang was detained and disappeared as part of the 709 Crackdown, which involved massive detention and arrest of human rights lawyers. His wife, Li Wenzu, wrote a letter to then-Minister of Public Security Guo Shengkun, asking him to uphold the "rule of law", safeguard lawyers' legitimate rights, and promptly disclose information about Wang Quanzhang's personal safety. From this point, Wang Quanzhang remained in incommunicado detention which lasted for nearly four years.
 
8 January 2016: More than half a year following his disappearance as part of the 709 Crackdown, the Tianjin Public Security Bureau ultimately declared Wang Quanzhang’s arrest, indicting him with subverting state power and holding him at Tianjin No. 2 Detention Centre.
Throughout the period since Wang Quanzhang disappeared, Li Wenzu actively advocated for her husband, embarking on a journey of rights defence and tireless campaigning for Wang Quanzhang’s cause.

August 2016: Li Wenzu and family members of other human rights solicitors were denied attendance to the trials of human rights defenders, with some being taken away by police. Li Wenzu and others faced assaults by police. Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of Global Times, a media outlet owned by the Chinese regime, branded Li Wenzu a “traitor of China”. In January 2018, Li Wenzu initiated legal action against Global Times and Hu Xijin for distorting facts and violating her right to reputation. The article was later removed from the Global Times website.

December 2016: Li Wenzu filed an administrative lawsuit against the Chinese Ministry of Public Security and then-Minister Guo Shengkun, accusing them of defaming a group of human rights lawyers in their video “Beware of Colour Revolutions – Who Wants to Overthrow China.” Li Wenzu appeared twice in the video, depicted as someone inciting a colour revolution in China. She requested the court to compel the Ministry of Public Security to take remedial measures, eliminate the impact, restore reputation, and cover the litigation costs. The same month, Li Wenzu received warnings and threats from the chief of the National Security Bureau’s Beijing Office for her committed efforts of advocating for Wang Quanzhang.

2016 also saw Wang Quanzhang’s son excluded from kindergarten. To preclude their son from attending kindergarten, the Beijing police reportedly issued an informal administrative order to all kindergartens and childcare facilities in the vicinity. They were instructed not to admit Wang Quanzhang’s and Li Wenzu’s son, with implicit threats of repercussions. This directive even extended to early education centres and afternoon classes, effectively barring all avenues for their son to partake in early childhood education. Consequently, this prohibition resulted in their son spending two entire years out of school and confined to his home.

January 2017: Dozens of eminent legal professionals wrote to Xi Jinping expressing grave concerns over the Chinese government’s continued detention and mistreatment of human rights lawyers (including Wang Quanzhang), the harassment of their families, and denial of lawyer visits. Signatories included former American Bar Association president David Collins, former UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Manfred Nowak, and former French Minister of Justice Robert Badinter. Ex-judge of Fujian Ningde Intermediate Court economic chamber and former judge Li Jianfeng stated that the cases in the 709 Crackdown severely breached the Criminal Procedure Law, with judges and prosecutors blatantly flouting the law, excessively detaining, and depriving citizens of their personal freedom, constituting a serious crime.

March and April 2017: Experts from the UN Human Rights Office issued two communications to China (UA CHN 3/2017; UA CHN 5/2017), regarding human rights violations against human rights lawyers including Wang Quanzhang.

May 2017: Lawyers Cheng Hai and Yu Wensheng endeavoured to visit Wang Quanzhang but were denied access and returned without success. By that time, Wang Quanzhang was the only individual in the 709 Crackdown about whom there had been no news. Lawyers repeatedly went to Tianjin requesting meetings to no avail. In the same month, freelance journalist Su Yutong launched a “one person, one video” campaign on Twitter in support of Wang Quanzhang, which successfully collected responses from numerous rights activists and solicitors. The regime also interfered with solicitors who attempted to represent Wang Quanzhang. For instance, solicitors including Li Zhongwei and Xi Xiangdong were initially appointed to represent Wang Quanzhang, but were pressured by the Judicial Bureau not to continue, with threats of arrest, forcing the two lawyers to withdraw from the case. Lawyers Yu Wensheng and Wang Quanxi later took over the case, but Wang Quanxi was later arrested. Lawyer Cheng Hai later volunteered to represent Wang Quanzhang.

Li Wenzu and Wang Qiaoling, wife of another Chinese human rights lawyer Li Heping, testified via video at a hearing of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee in May 2017. Li Wenzu appealed to the international community to pay attention to Wang Quanzhang's life and safety.

26 May 2017: Dozens of individuals including the landlord, staff from the housing agency, and also unidentified individuals wearing earpieces, arrived at the short-term rental home of Wang Quanzhang’s parents, intending to evict them from the premises. The parents, who had only rented the house for one month and had just stayed for one night, faced threats of water and electricity cut-off to force them to leave.
Wang Quanzhang's parents had travelled 700km from their hometown to Beijing to search for their son, who had been missing for nearly two years by that time. The rental was specifically for a short stay in Beijing to facilitate their visit. Both were over seventy years old, with Wang Quanzhang’s mother suffering from hemiplegia, requiring care and making movement difficult.

June 2017: Wang Quanzhang’s parents still attempted to stay in Beijing to search for him, but they continued to experience pressure and coercion from authorities to leave Beijing and return to their hometown. Wang Quanzhang’s father received phone calls from his former workplace and the village communist party secretary, instructing him to return home immediately. They claimed that he needed to report to the local labor department on 16 June 2017 for registration for the continuation of his retirement pensions, a situation which he had never before encountered.

9 July 2017: On the two-year anniversary of the 709 Crackdown, Wang Quanzhang’s family and his defence lawyers issued a joint statement condemning Tianjin Detention Centre’s repeated refusals to allow lawyer visits. They also highlighted the “mafia-style” methods adopted by public officials against lawyers and his family members, including tracking, frequent checking of license plates and IDs, cutting off water and electricity, and evicting family members from rented premises.

20 September 2017: Lawyers Cheng Hai and Lin Qilei, accompanied by several family members, visited the Tianjin First Detention Centre again to request a meeting with Wang Quanzhang, who had been detained for over two years by that time. The detention centre refused the request on the ground that the case already had assigned solicitors, implying the use of government-appointed solicitors (guanpai lvshi) in Wang Quanzhang’s case.

2017: Li Wenzu was awarded the 2017 Outstanding Citizen Award by the China Citizens Movement organisation. In her efforts to save her husband, Li Wenzu faced various threats, harassment, tracking, strip searches, forced relocation, illegal restrictions on her personal freedom, and death threats. She made dozens of appeals to various government departments, sending over 300 complaint letters, and at least eight lawsuits against the authorities for illegally preventing Wang Quanzhang from meeting with his lawyers, but none of which resulted in a case being established. Wang Quanzhang’s lawyer Yu Wensheng also issued at least 21 Complaint Letters for Wang Quanzhang, accusing four Tianjin departments of illegal actions. Li Wenzu revealed that national security personnel of the Chinese government spread rumours and defamed Wang Quanzhang in his relatives’ hometowns.

April 2018: Li Wenzu, alongside family members of other human rights lawyers affected by the 709 Crackdown, organised a “Thousand-Mile Search for Husband” campaign. Li Wenzu intended to walk from Beijing to Tianjin as a form of protest to raise the community’s awareness for her efforts in search of her husband. Her campaign was interrupted midway, and she, along with others, were forcibly taken away by authorities and then placed under house arrest in Beijing. A man obstructing Li Wenzu’s door made death threats, saying “If you dare to come out, we’ll kill you, believe it or not?”

May 2018: During her visit to China, then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with Li Wenzu, who advocated for the plight of Wang Quanzhang.

20 July 2018: Wang Quanzhang finally had a meeting with his lawyer, who revealed that Wang Quanzhang had been tortured in prison and forced to take unknown medication claiming to treat his high blood pressure – a condition which Wang Quanzhang never experienced before entering detention. Throughout the meeting, Wang Quanzhang appeared extremely frightened and often misunderstood the message of his lawyer.

24 December 2018: After over 1,200 days of detention, Li Wenzu announced via social media that the Tianjin No. 2 Intermediate People's Court would hold the trial for Wang Quanzhang’s case on 26 December 2018. The Tianjin No. 2 Intermediate People's Court claimed that Wang Quanzhang’s case involved state secrets, and therefore announced that the trial of Wang Quanzhang would be a closed trial, with the verdict pronounced at a later date. The indictment, later circulated online, accused Wang Quanzhang of accepting foreign funds and training personnel in China to cultivate opposition forces. Wang Quanzhang was alleged to have worked with foreign entities to establish a company in Hong Kong for financial support from overseas organisations and was accused of using these companies for training on opposing the Chinese government and nurturing opposition forces. Additionally, Wang Quanzhang was accused of actively supplying and publishing investigative reports to foreign entities, criticising China's legal system and human rights situation, and disparaging the Chinese socialist system.

26 December 2018: On the trial day, Li Wenzu and Li Heping’s wife Wang Qiaoling planned to attend the hearing but were besieged by national security and police officers, demanding they travel in a national security vehicle. After refusing, they were compelled to remain at home. Other human rights lawyers, such as lawyer Xie Yanyi, who was also detained during the 709 Crackdown, were obstructed by national security officers while trying to attend the hearing. Numerous police officers outside the courthouse denied journalists and the public access, asserting the trial was not public. While several foreign diplomats managed to arrive at the scene, they were not permitted entry into the courthouse. Various human rights lawyers and activists faced restrictions on their movement on that day. Certain activists who arrived at the courthouse to support Wang Quanzhang were apprehended by police officers.
On the same morning, several groups outside mainland China, including the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, the League of Social Democrats, and the China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group marched to the Hong Kong Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government. They protested against the Chinese government's unreasonable detention of Wang Quanzhang and demanded the release of rights activists.

27 December 2018: The day after the trial, Li Wenzu, Wang Qiaoling, and Yuan Shanshan – wife of human rights lawyer Xie Yanyi, submitted a "Letter of Urgency" to the Supreme People's Court. They urged the highest court to fulfil its supervisory duties and address issues such as the Tianjin Court's excessive handling of Wang Quanzhang's case. However, a significant number of police and plainclothes individuals claiming to be “petitioners” were already on guard outside, and the three were encircled near the public transport station close to the petition office, unable to approach the court.

28 January 2019: The verdict of Wang Quanzhang’s case was publicly pronounced at the Tianjin No. 2 Intermediate People's Court. Wang Quanzhang was convicted of subverting state power and sentenced to four and a half years in prison, with deprivation of political rights for five years. After the trial, the Tianjin authorities consistently refused to provide the case judgment to the family. The family’s multiple requests for the judgment were fruitless, and they were also denied entry to the court. The two judges in Wang Quanzhang’s case continuously evaded meeting the family, deliberately ignoring their requests.

April 2019: Wang Quanzhang was transferred to a prison in Linyi, Shandong province. After being transferred to the prison facility, Wang Quanzhang’s family remained unable to visit him. The prison authorities initially claimed that the visiting room was undergoing renovation. Wang Quanzhang’s sister, Wang Quanxiu, twice called the prison requesting to visit her brother but was refused each time for the same reason.

20 May 2019: Li Wenzu, Wang Quanxiu, and others went to the prison facility in Linyi in an attempt to visit Wang Quanzhang. There was heavy security along the road, with multiple police and special police vehicles filled with uniformed personnel, and plainclothes officers scattered along the sidewalks.
When the group reached the prison visiting room, they were stopped by several uniformed officers. Li Wenzu and Wang Quanxiu were then taken to the prison office building. Officers there accused them of having “ulterior motives.” Li Wenzu responded strongly against the accusation. The prison office eventually showed Li Wenzu and Wang Quanxiu a three-minute video recorded by Wang Quanzhang himself. Li Wenzu noted that in the pre-recorded video, Wang Quanzhang appeared aged and lethargic, with incoherent speech and a disconnected gaze, stuttering and not behaving like a normal person.
Li Wenzu criticised the authorities for using excuses to prevent lawyer visits and family visitations. She believed that Wang Quanzhang was subjected to extensive torture and forced medication over the past four years, resulting in physical and mental trauma, which incentivised the Government to prevent visitation. In view of this, Li Wenzu told the prison authorities that with ten days left in May, she would temporarily stay in Linyi, vowing not to give up until she could see Wang Quanzhang.

24 June 2019: Following the unsuccessful attempt by the "709" family members on 20 May, Li Wenzu and others again went to Linyi Prison, again requesting a visit but continued to face obstacles.

28 June 2019: After nearly 4 years since the first detention, Li Wenzu finally saw her husband Wang Quanzhang in Linyi prison. After the meeting, Li Wenzu revealed that Wang Quanzhang appeared significantly aged and haggard. Li Wenzu still experienced extensive obstacles in subsequent visits to Wang Quanzhang.

September 2019: Wang Quanzhang and Li Wenzu’s son faced expulsion from his school merely four days after commencing his studies. The school, unable to resist the unyielding pressure exerted by the police, felt compelled to terminate the enrolment of their son, who had only just begun his first grade. This incident marked the second occasion of their son being ousted from an educational institution due to his association with Wang Quanzhang. A similar situation happened in 2016 when he was attending kindergarten.
Reports indicated that since their son’s enrolment, the Beijing police persistently exerted pressure on the school, ultimately leading to the unwarranted dismissal of the child.

November 2019: It was later disclosed by Wang Quanzhang after his release that his legal practice license was revoked in November 2019.

5 April 2020: Wang Quanzhang was released from Linyi Prison in Shandong in the morning and immediately taken to a house in his hometown for COVID-19 quarantine observation. However, in a subsequent exclusive interview with Stand News, Wang Quanzhang stated that even after completing quarantine, he was unable to immediately return to Beijing to reunite with his wife and children. He said that police continued to place him under stringent surveillance and monitor him outside the stairwell of his residence in his hometown.

27 April 2020: Wang was finally able to reunite with his family in Beijing under police surveillance. Li Wenzu, overwhelmed with joy, cried at their reunion, after being separated for nearly five years. However, Wang Quanzhang’s freedom of speech and movement has remained extensively restricted until now.

April 2023: Wang Quanzhang and his family faced an unexpected demand from their landlord to vacate their residence immediately, with threats of disconnecting utilities. Li Wenzu noted the absence of any issues in their rental relationship, suggesting external pressures might have influenced the landlord's actions.

26 April 2023: Wang Quanzhang’s family experienced an abrupt power cut, executed by their landlord alongside engineers from the power supply bureau, despite their consistent payment of rent. The following day, their gas supply was also terminated. This tactic, presumably employed to coerce them into leaving, echoes the challenges encountered by fellow human rights lawyer Li Heping during a similar period. Both lawyers, residing in Beijing, endured harassment from their landlord, including power and gas disconnections, seemingly as a method to prompt their relocation.

28 April 2023: They moved to a guesthouse, embarking on a sequence of short-term relocations, yet continued to face hindrances and intimidation.

29 April 2013: They were greeted by over a dozen people upon leaving, who followed them persistently. One individual “advised” them to return to Shandong province, leading Li Wenzu to deduce that they were being pressured to leave Beijing.

2 May 2023: The family checked into a hotel in Beijing, only to be confronted ten minutes later by hotel staff demanding their immediate departure, claiming the hotel could no longer accommodate them.

24 May 2023: During the night, when Li Wenzu and her child were temporarily residing at a friend’s house in Beijing, police officers arrived, knocking on the door for nearly twenty minutes, alleging suspicions of drug use within. They eventually asked them to move. This incident marked the ninth occasion in that month where the family was compelled to change residences. The next day, on 25 May 2023, the police revisited, again under the pretence of investigating drug use. Five officers persistently knocked and shouted, demanding entry for inspection. It was later disclosed by a police officer that this series of actions was instigated due to Li Wenzu's interaction with French President Emmanuel Macron during his visit to China in April 2023.

12 June 2023: Shortly after moving to a new rental property, Wang Quanzhang’s family experienced a power outage. Police stationed outside threatened to break down the door, alleging illegal occupancy. Subsequently, the family presented the landlord’s video explanation, which led to the restoration of power.

14 June 2023: Wang Quanzhang returned from disposing of their rubbish to find three unidentified men at his door, harassing him and preventing the door from closing. One individual feigned injury, lying on the ground, obstructing entry.
Upon police arrival, the officers asserted that the valid lease agreement produced by Wang Quanzhang did not suffice as proof of legal residence. The police demanded the landlord or a relative present identification, household registration, and property certificate within 48 hours to avert forced eviction.

15 June 2023: The peephole camera at Wang Quanzhang's house was blocked, followed by another power cut, with individuals squatting outside the door, besieging their residence and pressuring them to relocate.

14 July 2023: Li Wenzu filed a lawsuit to the Badong County People's Court in Hubei Province, challenging the illegal restriction of her passport processing by the Badong County Public Security Bureau. It was revealed that on 6 January 2023, when Li Wenzu attempted to process her passport at the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau's Exit-Entry Administration Department, she was informed that the computer system showed the Badong County Public Security Bureau had imposed a restriction on her passport processing, effective until 15 December 2024, and that it must be lifted by the Badong County Public Security Bureau before they could proceed with her passport application.

According to Passport Law in China, public security agencies must provide written reasons for refusing to issue a passport within a reasonable timeframe and inform the plaintiff of their right to request administrative reconsideration or file an administrative lawsuit, which the Badong County Public Security Bureau failed to do, propelling Li Wenzu to file a lawsuit against the Badong County Public Security Bureau. However, court staff refused to accept her lawsuit, citing clerical mistakes appearing on the lawsuit.

19 July 2023: The Badong County People's Court contacted Li Wenzu, saying that they would mail Li Wenzu an official notice regarding the revision of the lawsuit. However, as of 1 August 2023, Li Wenzu had not received any notification from the Badong court. Repeated attempts to call the court’s office were unsuccessful.
Due to the lack of a valid passport, Li Wenzu has been prevented from leaving the country and has her right to travel abroad restrained. Similar situations have been faced by a number of human rights lawyers and advocates in recent years, such as Li Heping, Lu Siwei, and Tang Jitian.

24 August 2023: Li Wenzu visited the Badong County Public Security Bureau's Exit-Entry Administration to apply for a passport, but was denied by the staff, who stated that “Beijing” had issued a notice not to process her application. In the afternoon of the same day, Li Wenzu visited the Public Security Bureau's petition reception room, where she was told by the director there that her passport processing was managed by the National Security Division.

25 August 2023: Li Wenzu met with the National Security Division of the Badong County Public Security Bureau, where they promised to actively report to higher authorities to seek the lifting of her restriction and to provide Li Wenzu with a prompt response. That afternoon, Li Wenzu returned to the Badong County court to request that her case against the Badong County Public Security Bureau be filed. Court staff once again refused to accept the lawsuit, stating that the Enshi Intermediate Court had already handled her passport issue. Li Wenzu argued that the two administrative actions were different: the case handled by the Enshi Intermediate Court was against the Enshi State Public Security Bureau for their failure to make a decision within 60 working days.

The court repeatedly stated that since the Enshi Intermediate Court had already handled a passport related case, they could not accept another one. Li Wenzu requested a written notification stating that her passport could not be processed, but the court staff said they could not provide one.