3/3 EU/China: EU Action Needed to End China’s Exit Bans Targeting Human Rights Defenders – Letter
https://t.co/atfwd5Kpwt
Brussels- Amnesty EU
Dear @kajakallas,
We are writing to express Amnesty International’s serious concern about the Chinese authorities’ recent use of vaguely defined “national security” grounds to impose de facto exit bans on human rights defenders (HRDs) accused or convicted of such crimes and their family members.
Renowned artist and United States of America permanent resident Gao Zhen was detained in August 2024 and later charged with the offence of “slandering China’s heroes and martyrs”, apparently in connection with artistic works created years earlier. @GaoBrothers
Gao Zhen has been imprisoned for 720 days because of his art. Art is not a crime. No one should be punished solely for their creative work or expressing personal views! We call on the authorities to immediately release Gao Zhen and his family
https://t.co/zP0bCvW9q5
Gao Zhen has been imprisoned for 708 days because of his art. Art is not a crime. No one should be punished solely for their creative work or expressing personal views! We call on the authorities to immediately release Gao Zhen and his family
https://t.co/zP0bCvW9q5
Gao Zhen has been imprisoned for 699 days because of his art. Art is not a crime. No one should be punished solely for their creative work or expressing personal views! We call on the authorities to immediately release Gao Zhen and his family
https://t.co/zP0bCvW9q5
Dr. Wang Bingzhang has spent the last 24 years of his life behind the walls of a Chinese prison. Gao Zhen spent his 70th birthday separated from his family, locked away in China. They are among the many Americans who remain wrongfully detained abroad.
How many more milestones & precious moments must these Americans & their families miss while waiting for the freedom that should never have been taken in the first place?
@POTUS, pls use every available tool to bring them home. Their families have waited long enough. No American should be left behind.
@FreeWBZofficial@tianna_wang@WangBingwu@timeswang@GaoBrothers@SecRubio@JDVance@StateDept@aboehler@SebGorka@StateSPEHA@WhiteHouse@HouseForeignGOP@HRF@HouseForeign@USAmbChina
2/3 Christian Artist Languishes In Chinese Prison As Friends Rally For His Release
https://t.co/IfRsSsPIqa
Washington D.C. - Religion Unplugged, July 16, 2026
A 70-year-old artist is facing another day apart from his family & without necessary medical care after almost two years in a Chinese prison, his friends & advocates said.
Gao Zhen, a Christian & part of the famous artistic duo called the Gao brothers, was detained in mid-2024 for “slandering heroes & martyrs,” according to the International Federation for Human Rights. His friends & advocates say he was really detained for his sculptures that critique the country’s authoritarianism, censorship & the Chinese government’s darker chapters of history.
@GaoBrothers
"Dear President Trump. My name is Justin Jia Gao. I am 7 years old. My family needs your help. I want to go back to New York to go to school. Please help my family! Thank you so much!"
@POTUS, this letter was addressed to you, not by a diplomat or an activist, but by a 7-year-old child whose father, Gao Zhen, remains imprisoned in China, while he, an American citizen, & his mother, a U.S. LPR, remain under a travel ban.
Justin isn't asking for a toy or a vacation. He's asking for his father back, a Chinese artist & U.S. legal permanent resident who has spent 682 days behind bars because of his art. He's asking for their lives back.
Please hear his plea. #FreeGaoZhen & help reunite this family.
@SecRubio@JDVance@StateDept@aboehler@SebGorka@StateSPEHA@WhiteHouse@HouseForeignGOP@HRF@HouseForeign@GaoBrothers
In April 2026, HRF submitted a petition to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on Gao's behalf. He is detained for artworks that are critical of the Chinese government, under a law that did not exist when the art was created.
In a submission to @UN_SPExperts,
@CHRDnet outlined the arbitrariness of his detention and #dueprocess violations in his case.
👉 https://t.co/sTvETPNxkz
On June 10, Chinese dissident artist, Gao Zhen's sentencing was postponed. He can now be sentenced any time between now and September 10. Gao Zhen has already spent almost two years in prison, for simply making art. https://t.co/Ok1Y7ZCUm4
This is wonderful news - huge congratulations to both
I am privileged to know Sai personally and to count him a friend, and he deserves this so much. I hope one day to meet Gao Zhen, who also deserves this completely!